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A 


PRACTICAL TREATISE 


HYDRAULIC MINING 

IN 

CALIFORNIA. 


• WITH 

DESCRIPTION OF THE USE AND CONSTRUCTION OF 

Ditches, Flumes, Wrought-iron Pipes, and Dams; 

FLOW OF WATER ON HEAVY GRADES. AND ITS APPLICABILITY, UNDER 

HIGH PRESSURE, TO MINING. 


AUG. J. BOWIE , Jr., 

*&> 

Mining Engineer. 


SECOND EDITION. 

> 



* NEW YORK : 

D. VAN NO STRAND, PUBLISHER, 

23 Murray and 27 Warren Street. 

1887. 




\%il 


Copyright, 1885, 
by 

D. VAN NOSTRAND. 


THIS WORK IS DEDICATED 


TO 

Rossiter W. Raymond, Ph.D. 


THE AUTHOR. 





CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I. 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 

Siberia, Asia Minor, Italy, Spain, France, Africa, India, Asiatic Isl¬ 
ands, China, Japan, Russia (Table i. Yield of gold in Russia), 
Brazil, Chili, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, U. S. of Colombia, 
Mexico ; Australasia : Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, 
South Australia, New Zealand ; Canada, British Columbia ; U. 
S. of America : New England, Virginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, other States 
and Territories, .......... 


PAGE 


15 


CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLACER-MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 

First Mention of California. Discovery of Lower California. Early 
Explorations First Mention of Gold. First Mission in Lower 
California. First Mission in Upper California. Early Dis¬ 
coveries of Placers. Marshall discovers Gold at Coloma. Other 
Gold Discoveries. First Publication of Gold Discoveries. First 
Attempt to build Ditches. First Use of the “ Long Tom.” 
Discovery of Gold-Quartz Veins. First Working of Deep De¬ 
posits. Sluicing. First Use of the Hydraulic Method. Canvas 
Hose. Iron Pipe. Inverted Siphons. Improved Nozzles. 

First Rifle. Deflector. First Drift-Mining. Table Mountain. 

Deep Tunnels, .......... 42 


CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA. 

The three Great Belts of California.— Belt of the Coast Ranges: 
Topographical Limits. Mountain System. General Topographi 
cal Structure. General Geological Structure. Metamorphism. 
Cretaceous Formations. Coal and Cinnabar Deposits. Tertiary 
Strata. Asphaltum Deposits. Tin Ore. Pliocene Gravels. 
Gold, Silver, and Copper Veins. Eruptive Rocks.— Great 
Valley of California : General Topography.' Drainage. Rain¬ 
fall.— Belt of the Sierra Nevada: Topographical Structure. 
General Geological Structure. Granite. Auriferous Slate For¬ 
mation. Gold-Quartz Veins. Carboniferous Limestones. Ma¬ 
rine Sedimentary Deposits. Lava. Sedimentary Volcanic Layers. 
Gravel Deposits. Deposits at La Grange, .... 

7 


53 




8 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER IV. 


THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN DEPOSITS AND 

STRATA. 


THE VALUE OF DIFFERENT 

PAGE 


Top Gravel sometimes pays. Gold in the Grass-Roots. Pay Gravel 
sometimes high above Bed-Rock. Pay Gravel generally near 
Bed-Rock. Tuolumne River Claims. Nevada County. Sand 
generally poorer than Gravel. Rich Pay in Undulations and De¬ 
pressions .—Examples of the Comparative Values of the Different 
Gravel Strata: North Bloomfield. Patricksville Light Claim. 

La Grange Light Claim. Polar Star Mine, .... 70 


CHAPTER V. 

AMOUNT OF WORKABLE GRAVEL REMAINING IN CALIFORNIA. 

Minimum Pay Yield, ......... 76 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING GOLD-PLACERS. 

Miners’ Classification of Deposits. Classification of Mining Opera¬ 
tions.— Surface-Mining : Dry-Washing. Beach-Mining. Bar 
and River Mining. Ground-Sluicing. Booming.— Deep-Min¬ 

ing : Drifting. Fig. 1. Sunny South Mine. Hydraulic Mining. 

Origin in California. Hydraulic vs. Drift Mining. Require¬ 
ments for Financial Success, ....... 78 


CHAPTER VII. 

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS. 

Indications. Explorations at Malakoff. Fig. 2. Section of Malakoff 

Shaft No. 1, ......... 87 


CHAPTER VIII. 

RESERVOIRS AND DAMS. 

Storage Reservoirs : Sources of Water-Supply. Requirements for 
Sites. Elevation. Streams. Rainfall. Snowfall. Absorption 
and Evaporation. Reservoir Gauge. Reservoir Statistics. 
Distributing Reservoirs. Table 2. Reservoirs on the Yuba, 

Bear, Feather, and American Rivers.— Dams: Foundation. 

Wooden Dams. Abutments. Masonry Dams. Fig. 3. Section 
of Dam. Earthen Dams. Puddle Walls. Shrinkage of Em¬ 
bankments. Table 3. Angles of Repose and Friction of Em¬ 
bankment Materials. Fig. 4. Dry-Stone Dam. Dams in Cali¬ 
fornia. Table 4. Principal Dams in California .—Bowman Re¬ 
servoir and Dam : Main Dam. Fig. 5. Bowman Main Dam. 

Waste Dam. Fig. 6. Bowman Waste Dam. Debris Dams. 

Table 5. Rainfall at North Bloomfield and at the Bowman Dam. 

Table 6. Rain and Snow Fall at Bowman Reservoir, ... 90 



CONTENTS. 


9 


CHAPTER IX. 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 

Weirs. Orifices. Open Channels. Formula for Discharge over 
Weirs. Discharge through Triangular Notches. Fig. 7. Con¬ 
struction of Triangular Weirs. Table 7. Discharge of Water 
through a Right-angled Triangular Notch. Table S. Coefficients 
of Discharge through Rectangular Orifices —Miner s Inch: 
Smartsvilie Inch. Other Inches. Determination of the Inch ; 
Experiments at Columbia Hill. Fig. 8. Experiments on the 
Inch at Columbia Hill. Flow of Water in Open Channels. 
Kutter’s Coefficients for Roughness. Ditches in California. Ex¬ 
amples of Value of Coefficient in Ditches, . . . . 


PAGE 


HQ 


CHAPTER X. 

DITCHES AND FLUMES. 

Ditches : Location and Construction Principles. Surveying a Ditch 
Line. Narrow and Deep vs. Broad and Shallow Ditches. 
Excavating the Ditch. Examples of Ditches. North Bloomfield. 

Fig. 9. North Bloomfield Main Ditch. Milton Company. 

Fig. 10. Milton Ditch. Eureka Lake. South Yuba Canal Com¬ 
pany. Smartsvilie Ditches. Spring Valley and Cherokee. Hen¬ 
dricks. La Grange Ditch. Fig. 11. La Grange Ditch. Fig. 12. 

La Grange Wall Ditch. Fig. 13. La Grange Flume.— Flumes: 

Flumes vs. Ditches. Grades. Fig. 14. Flume Construction. 
Planking. Sills and Posts. Curves. Waste-Gates. Precautions 
against Cold. Experience in the Black Hills. Fig. 15. Wyom¬ 
ing and Dakota Co.’s Flume and Ditch. Details of Construc¬ 
tion. Lumber: Table 9. Table 10. Table 11. Bracket Flume. 

Figs. 16 and 17. Miocene Co.’s Bracket Flume. Details and 
Costs of Milton Ditch and Flumes. Table 12. Cost of Milton 
Ditch. Fig. 18. Milton Flume. Table 13. Dimensions and 
Costs of Ditches (including Flumes), ..... 135 

CHAPTER XI. 

PIPES AND NOZZLES. 

Wrought-Iron Pipes : Inverted Siphons. Thickness of Iron. Table 
14. Thickness and Weight of Iron for Pipe. Fig. 19. Texas 
Creek Pipe. Table 15. Tensile Strain on Wrought-Iron Pipe. 

Table 16. Area and Weight of Wrought-Iron Pipe. Riveting. 

Table 17. Sizes of Rivets. Table iS. Details of Riveting a 22- 
inch Pipe. Joints. Fig. 20. Lead Joint. Fig. 21. Method of 
Tightening Leaky Joints. Fig. 22. Elbow for Short Curves. 

Fig. 23. Method of Strapping Elbows and Pipes. Fig. 24. Air- 



10 


CONTENTS. 


Valve for Pipe. Fig. 25. Blow-off for Pipes. Fig. 26. Self- 
Acting Air-Valve. Preservation against Rust and Accidents. 
Filling Pipes.— Statistics of Pipe-Lines : La Grange Hydraulic 
Mining Company. Table 19. Cost of Iron Pipe at North 
Bloomfield. Spring Valley Water Co. Table 20. Details of 
Construction of Spring Valley Water Co ’s Pipe. Virginia City 
Water-Works. Fig. 27. Profile of Pipe-Line of Virginia City 
Water Co. Spring Valley and Cherokee Hydraulic Mining Com¬ 
pany. Fig. 28. Profile of Pipe-Line of Spring Valley and Che¬ 
rokee Co.’s Pipe. Table 21. Details of Spring Valley and Chero¬ 
kee Pipe. Flow of Water through Pipes. Table 22. Flow of Water 
through Circular Pipes. Pressure Box : La Grange Pressure Box. 
Figs. 29, 30, 31. North Bloomfield Pressure Box.— Supply or 
Feed Pipes : Fig. 32. Distributing Gate.— Discharge I J ipe or 
Nozzle: Fig. 33. Goose Neck. Fig. 34. Globe Monitor. Fig. 
35. Hydraulic Chief. Dictator. Fig 36. Little Giant. Fig. 
37. Little Giant Rifle. Fig. 38. Hydraulic Giant. Fig. 39. 
Monitor Hydraulic Machine. Deflector, ..... 

CHAPTER XII. 

VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 

Derricks , Hurdy-Gurdy Wheels: Experiments at North Bloomfield. 
Table 23. Experiments with Hurdy-Gurdy Wheels at North 
Bloomfield. Figs. 40 and 41. Hurdy-Gurdy Wheel and Derrick 
Hoist. Figs. 42-43. Hurdy-Gurdy Wheel and Nozzles. Ex¬ 
periments at Empire Mill. Tests at the Idaho Mine. Fig. 44. 
Pelton Wheel. Tests at the University of California. Flat 
Buckets. Curved Buckets. Figs. 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52. 
Buckets for Hurdy-Gurdy Wheels. Fig. 53. Pelton Wheel. 
Figs. 54 and 55. Diagrams of Efficiency of Pelton Wheel. Fig. 
56. Diagram of the Comparative Efficiency of Wheels. The 
Pan. The Batea. Fig. 57. The Rocker. Fig. 58. The Tom. 
Puddling Box. Amalgam Kettles, ...... 

CHAPTER XIII. 

BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 

Blast at Smartsville. Fig. 59. Diagram of Powder Chambers. Blue 
Point Blast. Paragon Mine Blast. Fig. 60. Blast at Paragon 
Mine. Dardanelles Mine Blast. Blasting Powder. Methods 
of Blasting. Table 24. Bank Blasting at the Manzanita Mine. 
Firing by Electricity. Fig. 61. Arrangement of wire for firing 
by Electricity. Tamping, ....... 


CONTENTS. 


11 


CHAPTER XIV. 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 

Tunnels : Shafts for Tunnels. Shaft Timbering. Second Shaft. First 
Washing. Size of Tunnel. Location of Tunnels.— Sluices: 
Grade. General Grade adopted. Size of Sluice. Details of 
Construction. North Bloomfield Tunnel Sluice. Figs. 62, 63, 
64. Tunnel Sluice Box at North Bloomfield. Bed-Rock Claim 
Sluice Boxes. La Grange Sluice Boxes .—Riffles : Block Riffles. 
Advantage of Block Riffles. Life of Blocks. Rock Riffles. 
Blocks and Rocks. Longitudinal Riffles. Bed-Rock Riffles.— 
Branch Sluices: Fig. 65. Turn-in Sluice, Patricksville. Turn 
out Sluice. Fig. 66. Box of Turn-out Sluice.— Undercuncnts : 
Figs. 67, 68, 69. Undercurrent at North Bloomfield. Table 
25. Lengths and Grades of Tunnels at Smartsville, Yuba County, 
Cal. Table 26. Lengths, Grades, and Costs of Tunnels in Ne¬ 
vada County. Table 27. Cost of Construction of the French 
Corral Tunnel and Sluices. Table 28. Cost of Construction 
of the Manzanita Mine Tunnel and Sluices, . . . . 


FAGE 


215 


CHAPTER XV. 

TAILINGS AND DUMP. 

Tailings: Composition of Tailings. Wear in Running Water. Ef¬ 
fects of Hydraulic Debris. Table 29, Hall’s, and Table 30, 
Mendell’s, Estimate of the Amount of Debris in certain Rivers in 
California .—Dump : Working on different Bed-Rock Levels with 
same Dump. Tailing into Streams. Experience at La Grange. 
Exceptional Cases, ......... 236 

CHAPTER XVI. 

WASHING, OR HYDRAULICKING. 

Charging the Sluices. Commencing Work. Caving Banks. High 
Banks. Light. Electric Light. Continuous Work. Cleaning 
up. Treating the Quicksilver and Amalgam. Retorting. Figs. 

70 and 71. The Retort,.244 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. 

Distribution in Tail Sluices. Fig. 72. Tail Sluices and Undercurrents. 

Table 31. French Corral Undercurrents ; Yield of the Under¬ 
currents, etc., at the French Corral Mine. Table 32. Manzanita 
Mine Sluices. Table 33. Distribution of Gold in the Manzanita 
Mine Sluices. Table 34. Distribution of Gold in the French 
Corral Sluices. Table 35. Distribution of Gold in the North 
Bloomfield Sluices, ......... 252 




12 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


LOSS OF GOLD AND QUICKSILVER. 

Loss of Quicksilver. La Grange. North Bloomfield. Table 36. 
Loss of Quicksilver and Yield of Bullion at North Bloomfield. 
Delaney and New Kelly Claims. Table 37. Run at the De¬ 
laney and New Kelly claims. Loss of Gold, . . . . 


PAGE 


263 


CHAPTER XIX. 

*" THE DUTY OF THE MINER’S INCH. 

Table 38. Estimates of the Duty of the Inch, Mendell. Table 39. 
Estimates of the Duty of the Inch, Payson. Table 40. Esti¬ 
mates of the Duty of the Inch, State Engineer. Table 41 A and 
B. The Duty of the Inch at North Bloomfield and La Grange, . 268 


CHAPTER XX. 

STATISTICS OF THE COSTS OF WORKING AND THE YIELD OF GRAVEL. 

Table 42. Details of Working the French Hill Claim. Table 43. 

Details of Working the Light Claim, Patricksville. Table 44. 

Details of Working the Chesnau Claim. Table 45. Details of 
Working the Johnson Claim. Table 46. Details of Working the 
Sicard Claim. Table 47. Resume of Workings by the La Grange 
Co. Table 4S. Details of Working No. 8 Claim, North Bloom¬ 
field. Table 49. Classification of Mines and Mining Expenses. 

Table 50. Yield of Important Hydraulic Claims in California. 

Table 51. Yield of Various Gravel Claims in California. Table 

52. Yield of Gravel in Foreign Gold Fields, .... 275 


Appendix A, 281 

Appendix B,.289 

Index, .293 





LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Fig. i. Sunny South Mine, Placer Co., Cal, ..... 85 

Fig. 2. Shaft No. 1, Malakoff, ....... 89 

Fig. 3. Rankine’s Section of Dam, ....... 98 

Fig. 4. Dry-Stone Dam, ......... 101 

Fig. 5. Bowman Main Dam, A and B (2), ..... 106—7 

Fig. 6. Bowman Waste Dam, A and B (2), . . . . . 111 

Fig. 7. Construction of Triangular Weirs, ..... 121 

Fig. 8. The Inch Gauge, ........ 125 

Fig. 9. North Bloomfield Main Ditch, ...... 139 

Fig. 10. Milton Ditch, ......... 139 

Fig. 11. La Grange Ditch, ........ 141 

Fig. 12. La Grange Wall Ditch, ....... 141 

Fig. 13. La Grange Flume, ........ 142 

Fig. 14. Flume Construction, ........ 143 

Fig. 15. Profile of Wyoming and Dakota Company Flume, . facing 147 
Fig. 16. Bracket Flume of Miocene Company, .... 151 

Fig. 17. Method of Hanging Bracket Flume, ..... 152 

Fig. 18. Milton Flume, ......... 156 

Fig. 19. Profile of Texas Creek Pipe, ..... facing 160 

Fig. 20. Lead Joint, . . . . . . . . . 163 

Fig. 21. Method of Tightening Leaky Joints, ..... 164 

Fig. 22. Elbow for Short Curves in Pipes, ..... 165 

Fig. 23. Method of Strapping Elbows and Pipes, .... 165 

Fig. 24. Air-Valve for Pipes, ........ 166 

Fig. 25. Blow-off for Pipes, ........ 166 

Fig. 26. Self-acting Air-Valve, ....... 167 

Fig. 27. Profile of Virginia and Gold Hill Water Co. Pipe-Line, . 173 

Fig. 28. Profile of the Spring Valley and Cherokee Co. Pipe-Line, . 175 

Figs. 29, 30, 31. North Bloomfield Pressure Box, . . . facing 177 

Fig. 32. Distributing Gate.179 

Fig- 33 - Goose Neck, ......... 180 

Fig. 34. Craig’s Globe Monitor, ....... 181 

Fig- 35- The Hydraulic Chief, ....... 181 

Fig. 36. The Little Giant, ........ 182 

Fig- 37- The Little Giant Rifle, ....... 182 


13 














LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


14 


PAGE 

Fig. 38. The Hydraulic Giant, ....... 183 

Fig. 39. Monitor Hydraulic Machine, ...... 184 

Figs. 40, 41. Hurdy-Gurdy Wheel and Derrick-Hoist, . . . 186-7 

Fig. 42. The Hurdy-Gurdy Wheel, ...... 188 

Fig. 43. Nozzles for Hurdy-Gurdy Wheels, . . . . . 189 

Fig. 44. The Pelton Wheel, ........ 193 

Figs. 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52. Buckets for Hurdy-Gurdy Wheels, 194-7 

Fig. 53. The Pelton Wheel, ........ 198 

Figs. 54-55. Diagrams showing the Efficiency of the Pelton Wheel, 199-200 
Fig. 56. Diagram showing the Comparative Efficiency of Wheels, . 201 

Fig. 57. The Rocker, ......... 203 

Fig. 58. The Tom, ......... 204 

Fig. 59. Diagram of Powder Chambers, Smartsville, . . . 207 

Fig. 60. Powder Chambers, Paragon Mine, ..... 209 

Fig. 61. Arrangement of Mines for Firing by Electricity, . . 213 

Figs. 62, 63, and 64. Tunnel Sluice Box at North Bloomfield, . . 222 

Fig. 65. Turn-in Sluice, Patricksville, ...... 228 

Fig. 66. Turn-out Sluice-Box, ........ 230 

Figs. 67, 68, and 69. North Bloomfield Undercurrents, . . facing 231 

Figs. 70 and 71. Retort, ......... 250 

Fig. 72. Tail Sluices and Undercurrents, ...... 254-5 








Hydraulic Mining in California. 


CHAPTER I. 

% 

THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 

The records of gold-washing have been traced al¬ 
most to the prehistoric period. If any reliance can be 
placed upon the traditions which have descended to us, 
the yield from the auriferous deposits of the ancient world 
must have been enormous. It is a well authenticated fact 
that the Greeks carried on from the earliest times an ex¬ 
tensive commercial intercourse with the people who lived 
north and east of the Euxine Sea, and thus drew large¬ 
ly on the gold-fields of Siberia, from which source the 
Gothic tribe of the Massagetas also obtained their wealth. 
These gold deposits are supposed to have been situated 
in lat. 53 0 to 55 0 N., and are said to be identical with 
those worked by the Russians during the present cen¬ 
tury. 

Asia Minor. —The mountains and streams of Phrygia 
and Lydia yielded gold in ancient times, and history has 
familiarized us with the wonders of the Pactolus,* from 
whose famous golden sands Croesus is said to have de¬ 
rived his wealth. The sands of Asia Minor long since 
ceased to yield the precious metal. 

Italy. —From a passage in Strabo (book iv. ch. 6, 
sec. 12) it appears that imperial Rome was “inundated 
with a glut ” of gold from her northern mountains, the 
Alps. Polybius says that in his times gold-mines were 
so rich about Aquileia . . . that if you dug but two feet 


* Herodotus, book v. c. ioi ; Strabo, book xviil. 



l6 THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 

V 

below the surface you found gold, and that the diggings 
generally were not deeper than fifteen feet. . . . Italians 
aiding the barbarians in the working for two months, gold 
became forthwith one-third cheaper over the whole of 
Italy.* 

Gold alluvia are known to exist in various localities 
in Upper Italy, but appear to be poor; and at the pre¬ 
sent time no gold-washing is carried on, except, perhaps, 
by a few individual workers. The sands of the Oreo, 
the Jassin, the Po, and the Serio are estimated to have 
yielded three hundred ounces of gold in i862.f 

Spain and France. —The Romans are stated to 
have washed the sands of sti earns along the base of the 
Pyrenees.:}: 

The Phoenicians obtained gold from the bed of the 
river Tagus noo B.C., and washings are reported along 
this stream as late as 1833 A.D. The Douro sands were 
worked for gold by the Arabs until 1147 A.D. Up to the 
close of the fifteenth > century the deposits of the river 
Ariege yielded annually about one hundred pounds of 
the precious metal. As late as 1846 gold-washings are 
reported along the Rhine between Strassburg and Phil- 
ippsburg. 

Africa. —At the present time but little gold is found 
within the limits of Abyssinia and Nubia, though the an¬ 
cient Egyptians mined the precious metal in the latter 
country. The ancient mines described by Lenant Bey 
are situated in a district called Attaki, or Allaki, between 
Berenice and Suakin, on the Red Sea, one hundred and 
twenty miles distant from Ras-Elba. They are spoken of 
by Diodorus Siculus, and shown on one of the oldest 
topographical maps extant, preserved in Turin. 

* Siluria,” foot-note, p. 449 ; also Pliny, book iii. c. 6, on the Great Value of the Mines 
of Italy. 

t “ Report on Precious Metals,” W. P. Blake, Paris Universal Exposition, 1867. 

£ Strabo, book iv. p. 290; Caesar, “ De Bello Gallico,” iii. 21 ; Jacob’s “ Inquiry into the 
Precious Metals,” p. 53. 

§ See “ Agatharchides de Rubro Mari,” in Diodorus, b. iii. c. 12-15; ‘‘Account of the 
Mines in Nubia and Ethiopia” ; also Jacob’s “ Inquiry into the Precious Metals,” ch. ix. 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 17 

The earliest record of the Egyptian mines dates from 
the twelfth dynasty. The principal mines of Kordofan 
are between Darfur and Abyssinia. These mines are 
mentioned by Herodotus. 

Nearly all the gold obtained in Africa has come from 
alluvial deposits. The country south of Sahara, from the 
mouth of the Senegal to Cape Palmas, contains numerous 
gold-bearing alluvions, which are worked by the negroes. 
The product of these mines is conveyed by caravans to 
Morocco, Fez, and Algiers, and forms a principal article 
of export from the Guinea coasts. Gold-dust is ob¬ 
tained also on the southeast coast, between lat. 25 0 and 
22 0 S., opposite Madagascar, in the country of Sofala, 
by some writers identified with the region from which 
Solomon obtained his wealth. Recently alluvial de¬ 
posits have been worked in the Transvaal, Leydenburg 
district (lat. 25 0 S., long. 35 0 E.), where coarse nuggets 
of gold, weighing as much as eleven pounds, have been 
found. 

The approximate gold export of all Africa from 1493 
to 1875, according to Dr. Soetbeer, amounted to ,£106,- 
857,000. 

India. —In the Bombay Presidency gold-bearing de¬ 
posits are reported to exist in the districts of Belgaum, 
Dharwar, and Kaladgi, in the southern Mahratta country, 
and the province of Kattywar. The sands in the streams 
arising from the Surtur series are auriferous, as are also 
those of the river Aji. The central provinces of India 
contain numerous small deposits of gold, but the number 
of gold-washings reported is comparatively very limited. 
The gold-fields of Madras have recently attracted con¬ 
siderable attention. The ancient mines of these regions 
have latterly been rediscovered. The known accumu¬ 
lated wealth of the ruling dynasties of southern India 
is supposed to have been obtained originally from these 
sources and from Malabar. 

Brough Smyth, in his report on the Wynaad gold- 


18 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


fields, 1879-80, states that the country is covered with 
tailings, an evidence of the industry of the Korumbas. 

In the province of Mysore alluvions (containing very 
little gold) are known to exist near Betmangla, and gold 
quartz is being mined at present in different parts of the 
province. 

A number of the rivers which have their sources on 
the borders of the Champaran district and Nepal, in the 
State of Travancore, contain auriferous sands, and gold¬ 
washing is carried on in these places at the commence¬ 
ment and termination of the rains. Auriferous sands oc¬ 
cur in the Kumaun and Garhwal rivers. The sands of the 
river Koh, near Naginah, in the Maradabad district, are 
said to contain considerable gold. In Punjab all the riv¬ 
ers are reported to contain auriferous sands. Gold-wash¬ 
ing has been practised in this district for many years, and 
was formerly a source of large revenue to the government. 

Asiatic Islands. —The sands of the streams of Cey¬ 
lon, Formosa, the Philippine Islands,* and some of the 
islands of the Indian Archipelago are known to contain 
gold ; at Borneo extensive mining operations are carried 
on by the Chinese and the natives, over thirty thousand 
of the former being now employed in the gold-fields. 

China. —I n the beginning of the seventh century the 
celebrated Chinese traveller, Hiuen-thsang, describes the 
country north of the Kuen-Lun, towards the desert of Gobi, 
as an auriferous district. It is either here or in the Thi¬ 
betan highlands, east of the Bolor chain, between the 
Himalaya and the Kuen-Lun, west of Iskardo, that Hum¬ 
boldt locates the land of gold sand spoken of by the Dara- 
das (Dardar, or Derder), mentioned in the Mahabharata, 
and in the fragments collected by Megasthenes.f 

According to Pumpelly i gold is found in fourteen out 

* See Jacob’s “ Inquiry into the Precious Metals,” pp. 367-377. 

t Humboldt’s “ Cosmos,” vol. ii. pp. 511-516 ; Jacob’s “ Inquiry into the Precious Metals,” 
p. 25. 

X Extract “ Geological Researches in China, Mongolia, and Japan,” 1862-65. Raphael 
Pumpelly. Smithsonian Contrib., Washington, 1866. 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 19 

of eighteen provinces of the empire. The greatest num¬ 
ber of washings is in the province of Sze-Chuen (Se- 
Chuen) and along the branches of the Kuen-Lun moun¬ 
tain chain, which have an east and west trend, penetrat¬ 
ing into Central China between the Wei River and the 
Sze-Chuen boundarv. Placers are numerous at the base 
of the water-shed between Kwei-Chow and Hu-Nan, and 
through the centre of Shantung, from southwest to north¬ 
east. Most of these placers furnish coarse gold. 

In the province of Shensi, on the northern frontiers at 
Hopoota and the Hala Mountains, much gold-dust is ob¬ 
tained annually. “Hundreds of thousands” of natives 
find employment in washing the sands of the river Kinsha- 
Kiang. On the banks of the Lou-tsze Kiang there are 
numerous gold-washings, and gold is reported to be found 
in almost all of the streams in the eastern portion of Shan¬ 
tung. 

Consul Adkins (i877), at Newchwang, reports rich 
diggings in the valley of Chia-t’i-kou thirty miles long, and 
about five or six days’ journey east by south from Kirwin 
and Newchwang. 

Henry F. Holt’s “ Notes on Gold in China,” published 
in Lock’s work on “ Gold,” give very interesting infor¬ 
mation of the condition of gold mining in this country, 
and Pumpelly furnishes a table of the placers. 

Japan. —Gold was first discovered in Japan in 749 
A.D.,* and the art of mining is said to have been intro¬ 
duced from China about the close of the same century. 
The gold-fields of the Musa valley are reported to have 
been worked by miners from Chikusen A.D. 1205. Japan 
has always been represented as a country rich in precious 
metals. Marco Polo, in the thirteenth centurv, said of 
Zipangu : “ They had gold in the greatest abundance, its 
sources being inexhaustible.” “ Great abundance ” of 
gold was reported by Kaempfer in 1727. The export of 
precious metals, chiefly gold, from 1550 to 1639 by the 

* According to Dr. Geerts. 


20 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


Portuguese was about $300,000,000, and from 1649 to 
1671 the Dutch traders sent home $200,000,000, two-thirds 
of which was silver.* * * § In the latter year the Japanese 
government forbade further export. The maximum gold 
production of this country was reached during the last 
half of the sixteenth century. Since that time the yield 
of gold has decreased steadily, and the product in 1874 is 
estimated b} 7 J. H. Godfrey, Chief Engineer of the Min¬ 
ing Office, at 12,000 ounces Troy. 

The deposits from which this wealth was drawn were 
principally shallow placers. Prof. Munroe says that the 
present gravel-beds in Japan are of fluviatile origin, shal¬ 
low, limited in extent, and uniformly poor. The richest 
deposits, near Yesso, contain less than seven cents per 
cubic yard, and the average of the best does not exceed 
five and one-half cents.f 

Russia. —Russia possesses extensive gold-bearing de¬ 
posits. The principal mining districts are those of the 
Ural,J the Altai region in western Siberia, western Turk- 
istan, the northern and southern Yeniseisk fields, the cir¬ 
cuit of Atchinsk and Minusinsk, Kansk and Nijneudinsk 
in the government of Irkutsk, Verkneudinsk, Barguzinsk 
in Trans-Baikalia, Olekminsk, the basin of the Lena, the 
country along the Amur, and Nerchinsk. 

According to Lock (“ Gold,” p. 437) the total yield of 
all the Russian gold-washings from 1814 to i860 inclusive 
(forty-seven years) amounted to 35,487 poods,.or 1,548,661 
pounds Troy of alloyed gold.§ 

In the reports of the United States Commissioners to 
the Universal Exposition at Paris, 1878, vol. iv. p. 248, 
James D. Hague states the approximate total production 

* Griffis (“ Mikado’s Empire,” p. 602) says that “ Japan exported during the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries £103,000,000 in precious metals.” 

t See “ Mineral Wealth of Japan,” by Henry S. Munroe, E.M., Trans. Am. Inst. Min. 
Eng’rs., vol. v. 

X Gmelin’s “ Journey through Siberia,” 4 vols. Gottingen, 1751-2. 

§ For production of gold in Russia see also Jacob’s work, appendix pp. 414, 415 ; Report 
of the United States Monetary Commission, p. 571 ; Sir Hector Hay’s “ Parliamentary Re¬ 
port on Silver,” 1876, App. 25. 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


21 


of gold in Russia from 1753 to 1876 inclusive to be $730,- 
000,000. He also gives the following table showing the 
yield of the auriferous deposits during eleven years: 


TABLE I. 


Years. 

No. of 
Explora¬ 
tions. 

Quantity of sand and 
mineral washed. 
Poods. 

Quantity of 
gold ex¬ 
tracted. 
Poods. 

Approximate value 
of product. 

1S67 

S7S 

968,423,325 

1,650 

$17,958,600 

1868 

993 

1 , 177 , 288,244 

1,711 

18,622,524 

1869 

1,129 

1 , 054 , 570,392 

2.007 

21,844,iSS 

1870 

1,208 

983,475,095 

2,157 

23,476,788 

1871 

978 

1 , 031 , 518,424 

2,400 

26,121,600 

1S72 

1,055 

1,044,027,585 

2,331 

25,370,604 

1873 

I,Ol8 

954,648,764 

2,025 

22,040,700 

1874 

1.035 

937 , 578,045 

2,027 

22,o6i,S6S 

1875 

1,092 

1,007,293,492 

L 99 6 

21,724,464 

1876 

1,130 

1,022,543,362 

2,054 

22 , 355,736 

1877 

• • • • 


2,430 

26,448,120 


The aggregate of the poods is about 184,000,000 tons 
of 2,000 pounds avoirdupois, and the corresponding pro¬ 
duct is valued at $221,576,472, assuming that the, weight 
of gold given is pure metal. 

The Ural. —The gold-fields of the Ural extend from 
the sixty-first parallel northward about six hundred and 
ninety miles to the Arctic Ocean, and south into the Cos¬ 
sack and Baskir districts. The most valuable deposits 
have been found in the districts of Miask and Kashgar. 
At the former the largest nuggets have been obtained, 
and at the latter emeralds and pink topazes occur asso¬ 
ciated with the gold. Near Bogoslofsk is the celebrated 
mine of Peschanka. The production of these districts 
has steadily fallen off since i860—a fact attributable to 
the impoverishment of the placers, which, nevertheless, 
are calculated by Bogoliubsky to represent a value of 
$61,660,000. 

The Ekaterinburg group occupies the central Ural. 
The whole eastern slope of the Ural, north and south of 
























22 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


Ekaterinburg, is auriferous. The principal mine of this 
district is the Beriozofka, which has produced largely. 
The first washings were commenced here in 1814, but up 
to 1861 there was little or no improvement made in the 
method of working. 

In the southern Ural lies the celebrated region of 
Zlataust, lat. 55 0 iT N., long. 77 0 26' E. The gold allu¬ 
vion is found along the lateral streams which feed the 
Miask. This river was remarkable for its minerals and 
precious stones. The Miask placers were the richest 
in the Ural, but of late years their product has been 
very small. 

The Altai. —Mining in the Altai is said to date from 
a very early period. The discovery of the alluvial de¬ 
posits along the Fomiha River in 1830 gave a new im¬ 
petus to gold-mining in Siberia, but richer fields have in 
later years attracted the miners, and the production of 
this district appears to have fallen to one-tenth of what it 
was twenty years ago. 

Turkistan. — The auriferous deposits in western 
Turkistan, along the course of the river Tentek, are said 
to have been worked b)^ the Chinese. Kuznetsof, a pos¬ 
tal contractor, in 1868 tested some old Chinese diggings 
at Kizil-togoi, but from a summer’s work at considerable 
expense obtained only one pound of gold. This has dis¬ 
couraged further mining. It is the opinion of many 
that the detritus of Turkistan is not at present worth 
working. 

o 

The Northern Yeniseisk. —The northern Yeniseisk 
fields were discovered in 1832. All the rivers partake of 
the character of mountain torrents. The most remunera¬ 
tive district was discovered in 1839, between the rivers 
Yenisei and Podkamenny Tungusska. 

The Teya River is about one hundred or one hundred 
and fifty feet wide. The gold deposits along its banks 
have been explored and found too poor to work. On the 
river Noiba placers were worked in 1842. The country 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


23 


was abandoned subsequently, but reopened in 1854. The 
auriferous stratum lies in the bed of the river, or close to 
it, and varies in width from one hundred to three hun¬ 
dred feet, with a depth of from one to eight feet. These 
placers now produce annually a large amount of gold. 

In the Yenashimo valley the alluvions vary from two 
hundred to fourteen hundred feet in width, and do not 
exceed eight feet in depth. They were discovered in 
1851, and up to 1864 produced largely. 

As early as 1840 the attention of gold-hunters was at¬ 
tracted to the alluvions along the Kalami, a tributary of 
the Yenashimo, and two years later work was commenced 
in this valley. These placers were very productive, al¬ 
though the auriferous material averages only from two 
and a half to eight feet in thickness. The mines on the 
Savaglikon are said to have produced from 1843 1° 1864 
$25,000,000. 

In the valley of the Chirimba several deposits have 
been washed, and from the beds of the Aktolik a large 
amount of gold has been produced, the gravel having a 
depth of from seven to ten feet and varying in breadth 
from seven hundred to fourteen hundred feet. Mining 
operations in the northern Yeniseisk begin in May and 
continue until about the first week in September. 

The Southern Yeniseisk. —In the southern Yeni¬ 
seisk gold-fields the rivers have heavy grades. In many 
districts a scarcity of water prevails during the summer 
months. Only three of the river basins are noted for 
their auriferous alluvions, the others holding a secondary 
rank. The most important valley is that of the Uderey, 
where extensive gold-placers have been worked since 
1845, but are now nearly exhausted. There are nume¬ 
rous placers along the river Murojnaia and its tributaries 
which flow into the southern Yeniseisk fields. The de¬ 
posits have been worked since 1841. 

The Great Pit River is the administrative boundary 
between the northern and southern systems. Its length is 


24 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


about two hundred and thirty miles, and its valley is from 
two hundred and fifty to three thousand feet wide. The 
river in places is very narrow, forming rapids. On the 
Buruma and the Tujimo, feeders of the Gorbilka, a tribu¬ 
tary of the Pit, there were formerly some washings. 
Below the Gorbilka the Pit is joined by the Penchenga, 
which, with its numerous feeders, especially the Greater 
Lower Ollonokon, is auriferous. The pay alluvion along 
the last-named tributary is confined to a channel from 
fifty-six to one hundred and seventy-five feet wide, and is 
from eight to twelve feet deep. In general the valleys of 
the Penchenga are considered too poor to work, though 
on some ol the feeders washing has been carried on. 

On the Untuguna, a feeder of the Ayakta, gold has 
been washed, and almandines, rubies (poor quality), tour¬ 
malines, and an abundance of zircon have been found. 

Atcliinsk and Minusinsk Fields. —The Atchinsk 
and Minusinsk fields, which have contributed for many 
years to the gold production of Siberia, have declined 
lately in importance. 

Kansk and Nijneudinsk. — Kansk and Nijneu- 
dinsk, in the governments of Yeniseisk and Irkutsk, for¬ 
merly produced a large amount ot gold annually, but of 
late years their yield has been much reduced. 

Verkneudinsk. —The Verkneudinsk district, which 
is southeast of Lake Baikal, produced up to 1874 some 
17,640 pounds of gold, but in 1877 its production was only 
480 pounds. North of this field are the auriferous tracts in 
the basin of the Lena, which have been worked since 1867. 

Barguzinsk, Olekminsk. —The Barguzinsk dis¬ 
trict, in Trans-Baikalia, is imperfectly known. The Olek¬ 
minsk circuit is situated in the basins of the Vitim and 
Olekma, tributaries of the Lena, where extensive mining 
operations have been carried on. This district is one of 
the most promising centres of gold-mining in Siberia, al¬ 
though the climate is very severe and the ground is 
frozen during the entire year. 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


25 


Amur. —In the Amur region the gold-mining indus¬ 
try has been developed successfully, especially along the 
Zehya, the Burehya, and the Amgun rivers, but its pro¬ 
gress has been checked by the scantiness of population. 
Two thousand men are said to be employed on the rivers 
Ura and Oldoi washing the alluvions, which are about 
seven feet thick. The placers of the Amur basin, in 
Trans-Baikalia, are a comparatively recent discovery. 
Gold is widely disseminated along the chief affluents of 
this river, and the deposits are easily worked. 

This basin is reported to have yielded, up to 1875, a 
profit of £3,500,000. The auriferous deposits are esti¬ 
mated by Bogoliubsky to be one thousand miles long, 
three hundred and fifty feet wide, and to average five feet 
in depth, containing 16^ grains per 3,600 pounds. Only 
one-half of the basin is as yet explored. 

Placers are found on the islands in the Sea of Japan, in 
Strelok Bay, and along the shore of the Okhotsk Sea. 

Nerchinsk. —The placers in the Nerchinsk district 
are generally frozen. Detritus which yields less than 1 
pennyweight per 1,800 pounds has been found unprofit¬ 
able to work. 

Brazil. — In 1543 gold was known to exist in Brazil 
(Walsh, vol. ii. p. 101), deposited in the beds of streams. 
The Indians at that period are said to have used it to 
make fish-hooks. Humboldt (“ New Spain,” vol. iii. p. 
401) says that gold-placers were first discovered in 1577. 
The greatest prosperity of the gold-washings was in the 
middle of the eighteenth century. 

The precious metal was first found in the Riberao, 
a tributary of the Rio das Mortes, or River of Death. 
This name commemorates a bloody encounter which took 
place between the gold-hunters, who, it is said, met and 
“ set upon each other like famished tigers, impelled by 
the auri sacra fames." * 

In the vicinity of the Riberao there is abundant evi- 

* Walsh, “Travels in Brazil,” vol. i. p. 104. 


26 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


dence of the extensive search made for gold. The banks 
are everywhere furrowed and the vegetable mould has 
been entirely removed. Nothing remains but the red 
dirt, cut into squares by channels divided by narrow 
ridges. These channels were used for washing gravel, 
and were cut on an inclined plane. The water was intro¬ 
duced at the head of them, the dirt was then thrown in, 
and the lighter particles of clay were washed away, while 
the gold remained behind.* 

The first placers in the country were called “ cata.” 
The surface dirt which contained gold was mined until 
the “ cascalho,” or cement-gravel, was reached. This was 
broken up by pickaxes, brought to the river, and washed. 
The first improvement introduced was to conduct the 
water to the ground and wash the gravel on the spot. 
These works were called “ lavras,” and hundreds of them 
were to be seen on the banks of the Rio das Mortes. A 
more improved method was practised subsequently. 

In some districts water-wheels were used to assist in 
the drainage of the excavations, but were found so un¬ 
manageable that they were thrown aside, and the negroes 
were employed to pack off the gravel and rubbish on 
their heads in small casks.f 

According to Dr. Soetbeer, from 1691 to 1875 (one 
hundred and eighty-five years) the gold production of 
Brazil amounted to 2,281,510 pounds Troy. By far the 
greater part was derived from alluvial deposits by river¬ 
washing. Hartt £ is of the opinion that there are still 
extensive surface deposits which, with modern appliances, 
can be worked successfully on a large scale, and limited 
washings now occur in almost every province in the 
empire. 

Chili.— Chili contains numerous auriferous deposits, 
which, according to Schmidtmeyer, extend over most of 
the coast. The principal deposits are those near Copiapo, 

* Walsh, vol. ii. p. 105. t Ibid., pp. 112, 113. 

X “ Geological and Physical Geography of Brazil.” 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


2 ; 


Gu asco, La Ligua, Petorca, Coquimbo, Tiltil, Caren, and 
Talca. The washings of Aconcagua and La Ligua have 
been the most productive and extensive. Gold-bearing 
drift has been reported as existing throughout the south 
of Chili, fifty miles back from the sea-coast, about the 
latitude of Coquimbo. Crosiner (Blake’s “ Report on 
the Precious Metals,” 1867) mentions that gold deposits, 
which do not appear to have been formed by the de¬ 
composition of regular veins, are found in decomposed 
granite and red clay near Valparaiso. Similar deposits 
occur along the flanks of the Andes, the most extensive 
being east of Chilian. 

During three hundred and thirty-one years, ending in 
1875, the gold product of Chili approximated an annual 
average of $600,000, principally from the washings of 
river-beds. Recent attempts by American companies to 
work the deposits by the hydraulic process have not been 
attended with success, the yield of gold being much 
smaller than anticipated and the supply of water being 
too limited. 

Bolivia. —The statistics of Dr. Soetbeer show that 
from 1545 to 1875 Bolivia produced gold to the amount 
of 646,800 pounds, or £41,013,300, derived principally 
from the washings of river-beds and shallow placers, the 
works on the river Tipuani being the most celebrated. 
The deposits seem to be widely distributed throughout 
the country, but detailed information concerning them is 
unobtainable. 

Peru. —i n Peru gold was gathered by the Incas in 
large amounts. Under the Spanish rule more than 
$33,000,000 are said to have been extracted from the 
mines and washings of Caravaya. The discovery of 
these placers was made in 1542, and the production of 
gold from this vicinity continued until 1767, when the 
town of San Gavan, containing four thousand families 
and a large treasure, was surprised and entirely destroyed 
by the Indians. 


28 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


In 1849 the attention of miners was again attracted to 
Caravaya by reported discoveries of a great abundance of 
gold in the sands of one of the Caravaya rivers. Num¬ 
bers of adventurers visited the country, but returned un¬ 
successful. There are gold-washings on the Chaluma 
River and its tributaries. The region of San Juan del 
Oro was once famous for its yield. The sands of the 
tributaries of the Purus are said to contain gold, and 
those of the Piquitiri are known to be auriferous. 

Large deposits were worked with great profit up to 
1820 in the province of Parinacochas, department of 
Ayacucho, along the banks of the Huanca-huanca River. 

There are numerous auriferous deposits in the pro¬ 
vince of Sandia, department of Puno, some of which have 
been and still are being worked in a primitive style. 

The present condition of the gold regions of Peru 
is unknown to the world at lar^e. The most definite 
data of the production of gold from this country are 
given by Dr. Soetbeer, who says that from 1533 to 1875 
the output aggregated ,£22,815,225. Paz Soldan’s “ Geo¬ 
graphical Dictionary of Peru ” contains much late infor¬ 
mation. 

Venezuela. —At Caratal, State of Guayana, in Vene¬ 
zuela, small quantities of gold have been obtained from 
the alluvial deposits. This field has been described mi¬ 
nutely by Le Neve Foster, from whose explorations the 
latest information is obtained. The deposits are situated 
about a hundred and sixty miles E.S.E. of Ciudad Bolivar. 
In the valley of the Mocupia gold-washing was carried 
on as early as 1857. Large placers have been recently 
discovered about fifty miles northeast of Caratal. The 
gold product of the Caratal mines from 1866 to 1879 in¬ 
clusive is approximated at $14,000,000, and the mining re¬ 
gion of Guayana is reported to have produced since 1874 
about $1,250,000 annually. 

The auriferous alluvions near the river Yuruari and 
along the banks of the Rio de Santa Cruz have been 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


2 9 


worked for years by the Indians, and at Tesorero placer¬ 
mining is still carried on. 

Expeditions from Europe in search of one of the many 
El Dorados have visited this country and sailed up the 
Orinoco. Humboldt (“ Personal Narrative,” vol. 3, pp. 
23-44) gives an interesting account of this whole matter. 

U. S. of Colombia. —The annals of gold-mining in 
the United States of Colombia are replete with interest¬ 
ing information. The famous El Dorado visited by Sir 
Walter Raleigh in 1517, and by the buccaneers in the 
seventeenth century, is situated in the province of Cas¬ 
tilla del Oro. The Cana mines of this district, which 
were worked by slave labor, yielded largely, accord¬ 
ing to tradition, during the seventeenth century. The 
mines of Choco, on the western side of the Andes, are 
classed by Schmidtmeyer among the most productive 
in the west of America. These mines (which contain 
gold and platinum) are located on affluents of the river 
Atrato. 

The Spaniards in former da) r s carried on extensive 
mining operations near Malineca, on the river Tuyra. The 
Mina Real, in the Cerro del Espiritu Santo, at Santa Cruz 
de Cana, is said to have produced a large amount of gold. 
Late reports of this mine and mining district are very un¬ 
favorable, and cast grave doubts upon the correctness of 
the statements of its former production. 

Auriferous alluvions occur in the vicinity of Piede 
Cuesta, at the head of the river Lebrija, in the province of 
Pampluna. All the rivers in Darien which flow directly 
into the Pacific are said to contain gold. Late reports 
(1881) state that the sands of the river Dibulla and the Rio 
de Sevilla are highly auriferous. The rivers of Santiago, 
Concepcion, Berrera, Zapaterito, San Antonio, and San 
Bartolomo, which were noted formerly for their gold- 
washings, continue to the present time to yield remune¬ 
rative returns to the miner. Rich alluvions have been 
lately discovered below the Falls of San Jago, where ex- 


30 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


tensive deposits are reported. Dr. Soetbeer states that 
the gold production of New Granada from 1537 to 1875 
was ^169,422,750. 

Mexico. —Cortez’s exploring parties in Mexico* ob¬ 
tained gold from the beds of rivers several hundred miles 
from the capital. Prescott says that gold, either cast 
into bars or in the form of dust, was part of the regular 
tribute of the southern provinces of the empire.f The 
gold product of Mexico at present is principally from 
quartz-mines, only a small amount being obtained by the 
“ gambusinos,” or native prospectors, who wash with the 
batea in the placers scattered here and there through the 
country. There are rumors of large bonanzas in the beds 
of streams in certain localities, and several attempts have 
been made to reach this wealth by turning the rivers, but 
hitherto without success. 

The gold in the placers is sometimes distributed in the 
sands, in small quantities so far as known. In many dis¬ 
tricts the gambusinos obtain it, principally from crevices 
in the bed-rock, to reach which small shafts are sunk, 
often to a considerable depth. 

Australasia. —The most important gold-fields of Aus¬ 
tralasia^: are situated in the colonies of Victoria and 
New South Wales; Queensland and South Australia like¬ 
wise contain gold alluvions. 

Victoria. —The gold product of Victoria, according 
to the mineral statistics for 1880, aggregated 529,129 
ounces, of which amount 299,926 ounces came from the 
alluvial deposits. Although the old placers have been 
worked extensively, and exhausted in many cases, the 
yield has been increased latterly by the opening up of new 
gold-producing areas and by improved methods of work. 
The total quantity of gold produced in Victoria from its 
discovery in 1851 to the end of 1880 is placed officially at 

* See Helps, “ Spanish Conquest of America” ; also Las Casas, “ History of the Indies.” 

t Prescott’s “Conquest of Mexico,” vol. i. p. 139. 

X See “Gold,” by A. G. Lock, from which work the above notes^ on Australasia are 
condensed. 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


31 


£198, 196,206, the mining operations extending over an 
area of twelve hundred and thirty-five square miles. 

Ararat district contains large deposits of the upper 
and newer pliocene, considered to be of marine origin, 
but no gold in workable quantities has been found in any 
of these beds. The workable placers occur in the lower 
newer pliocene, whose origin is clearly a result of fluvia- 
tile agency. A fact worthy of mention is that in the 
neighborhood of Ararat, so far as yet explored, not a 
single well-defined quartz-vein has been found to contain 
pay gold. 

In the northern portion of the Ararat fields the de¬ 
posits attain a depth of from ninety to one hundred and 
fifty feet. In the Great Western mine the deposit, com¬ 
posed of older pliocene gravel-drift resting upon disinte¬ 
grated granite, has been mined for a length of two miles 
and a width which in places exceeds twelve hundred feet. 
From accumulations of saline waters, and from undula¬ 
tions both horizontally and laterally of the bed rock, it 
is considered that “ the lead ” is simply a depression in a 
former sea-bottom. 

In the Ballarat fields there are four clearly defined 
epochs of gold-drift, whose relative local positions are in¬ 
dicated by their names: “ Oldest,” “ Older,” “ Recent,” 
and “ Most Recent.” The “ Oldest ” period includes a 
deposit antecedent to the time at which the channels were 
eroded to their present depth. The “ Older ” embraces 
the deposit intervening between the lava-flows. Deposits 
of “Recent” age are those following immediately the 
uppermost lava flow. “ Most Recent ” drifts are those in 
most recently eroded gullies. There are three great lead 
systems near Ballarat, called the “ Southern,” “ Western,” 
and “ Eastern.” The “ Southern ” has been explored ex¬ 
tensively ; the “ Western ” is looked upon by some as the 
future hope of Ballarat in alluvial mining; the “ Eastern ' 
is but little known. 

The alluvial deposits in Beechworth district have been 


32 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


derived from the Silurian strata, not from the granite. 
The mining operations practised are simply those of 
ground-sluicing on a large scale. Considerable work has 
been done on the placers in Dargo district. The thick¬ 
ness of the gravel is from thirty to forty feet. On 
Mitchell River the gold-workings are confined to the 
creeks and the older alluvions on the banks. The Wa- 
ranga fields, Sandhurst district, are among the oldest Vic¬ 
torian gold-fields, and have been worked since 1853. The 
most important of the workings are in the vicinity of 
Rushworth on a cement deposit, probably of the older 
pliocene. The gravel is shallow, the deepest shafts being 
only from thirty-five to fifty-five feet. This lead has yielded 
more than any other in the district. Nuggety Gull}', 
Cemetery Lead, and Coy Diggings are also placers of note. 

New South Wales. —The auriferous districts of 
New South Wales are considered the richest and most 
extensive in Australia. The gold-fields extend, with 
short intervals, the entire length of the colony, with a 
breadth of two hundred miles. Immense tracts in the in¬ 
terior still remain unprospected, and in time may prove 
to contain valuable gold-bearing deposits. Up to 1 87 r 
alluvial washings alone were carried on, gold-quartz min¬ 
ing being neglected. At this period sixteen thousand 
miners were at work. The product from 1851 to 1871 
inclusive is stated by Reid to have been ^26,457,160. 
The gold regions are all easy of access and are within 
two days’ journey of the capital. 

In Bathurst, Tambaroora, Turon, Lachlan, Mudgee, 
Southern, Peel, and Uralla districts water is scarce, and 
the discoveries of gold at Temora, Montreal, and Mount 
Browne have attracted a large number of miners from 
these places. Water is scarce at Temora also, but for¬ 
tunately a large amount of very coarse gold has been 
found. The Montreal placers are near the sea-coast. The 
deposits are said to occur in two terraces, and give evi¬ 
dence of having been washed back by the sea. 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


33 


In 1880, of the 13,430 gold-miners in the colony of New 
South Wales 11,403 were engaged in alluvial mining. 

The Barrington held, on Back Creek, is about ten 
miles from the town of Gloucester. The principal gold 
deposits occur amid steep ranges, covered with thick 
forests and dense undergrowth. The creek has been 
worked for gold, but the results, though profitable, have 
not been remarkable. The water supply is very uncer¬ 
tain, and in summer the creek ceases to flow. 

The Kiandra gold field, on the table-land of Maneero, 
is situated about five thousand feet above sea-level, close 
to the highest mountains in the colony, around which are 
extensive deposits of auriferous gravel. Near Mount 
Table-Top the alluvions have been covered with basalt, 
and up to the present time this main deposit has been 
worked only to a limited extent. 

The chief localities in which gold-mining has been 
carried on are those of Nine-Mile Diggings, New Chum 
Hill Diggings, Scotchman’s Tunnel Claim, Bullock-Head 
Creek, and the Eucumbene River ; also Township Hill 
Diggings, Eight-Mile Diggings, and Fifteen-Mile Dig¬ 
gings. Recent surveys show that water can be brought 
on certain of the Kiandra diggings, and here hydraulic 
mining is possible on a very limited scale. The rich 
placers developed by the sluicing operations toward 
Mount Table-Top have been compared by some writers 
to the gravel deposits near Placerville, California. Lach¬ 
lan district was partially developed in the rush of the first 
mining excitement, and it is believed that only an insig¬ 
nificant proportion of the ancient river deposits was 
worked by the earlv miners. 

Mount Werong is the site of one of the recent discov¬ 
eries. The auriferous alluvion is said to be widely scat¬ 
tered. The gold has a water-worn appearance, and it is 
supposed that an old channel or lead formerly existed 
here. But as yet the country is only partially explored. 

The Tallawang field contains one of the most ancient 


34 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING 


auriferous alluvial deposits in the world; the gold occurs 
in the tertiary alluvial deposits, and in conglomerates in 
the coal measures the precious metal has also been found 
in paying quantities. At Clough's Gully the conglome¬ 
rate is being worked and yields from i to 15 penny¬ 
weights per ton, and nuggets of 5 ounces are occasionally 
found. 

Queensland. —The colony of Queensland lies to the 
north of New South Wales. Here thirty-one hundred 
square miles of auriferous alluvial and quartz ground 
were worked upon in 1876. The gold-fields occur on 
both sides of the main dividing range which separates the 
eastern and western waters, and on the spurs of the range 
which forms the water-shed to the Gulf of Carpentaria. 

Charter’s Towers fields are situated about the centre 
of the eastern portion of the colony. There are several 
small alluvial deposits, but the principal industry is that 
of gold-quartz mining. 

In the Gympie district extensive quartz-mining is 
carried on, and some alluvial gold has been found in 
the Marengo gullies. 

Gold quartz is mined in the Normanby region, but 
alluvial gold is sparsely distributed, the deposits not pay¬ 
ing: the cost of labor. 

South Australia.—In South Australia g:old is found 
in nearly every part of the colony, but the deposits are 
of very limited size. The bed of the river Torrens has 
yielded small quantities. The deposits of Barossa are 
said to resemble geologically and topographically Ben¬ 
digo and other Victorian fields where the basaltic lava is 
absent. The principal deposit is probably of older plio¬ 
cene age. The main lead in Spike’s Gully shows a drift 
varying from twenty to a hundred feet in depth. In this 
drift, which consists of quartz pebbles, boulders, and 
ferruginous conglomerate, the gold is water-worn. The 
topography of the country is favorable for the construc¬ 
tion of reservoirs at small expense, and sluicing could be 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


35 


introduced without difficulty. The Echunga fields were 
discovered in 1852, but gave employment to a small num¬ 
ber of gravel-miners only. Cement-crushing has been 
carried on in this district, but with little success. The 
Ulooloo gold-field contains some auriferous deposits com¬ 
posed of clay, sand, and shingle, forming banks of from 
six to twenty feet along the Ulooloo Creek. Water, 
however, is here very scarce. 

In the northern territory, which extends from the Sta¬ 
pleton to the Driffield rivers, the auriferous deposits 
have been explored for a distance of about one hundred 
miles in length by twenty miles in width. There are no 
drift deposits. The alluvial gold occurs in small gullies 
and ravines, and occasional rich pockets are found. 

New Zealand. —Gold was discovered in New Zea¬ 
land in 1842. The alluvial deposits occur chiefly in the 
South Island, in the districts of Otago, Westland, and 
Nelson, where mining operations are carried on over an 
area of almost twenty thousand square miles. The de¬ 
tritus is found in the beds of the rivers, in large deposits 
of gravel from three hundred to five hundred feet deep, 
and in the sands along the sea-shore. The gold-drifts in 
Otago rest on the denuded surface of the parent rock, 
while in the Westland district they lie on tertiary rocks 
of marine origin. Fully two-thirds of the gold returned 
from this country is obtained from alluvial mining. The 
extent to which work is carried on may be judged from 
the fact that the miners have constructed over five 
thousand miles of water-races, with attendant tail-races 
and dams, at a cost approximating £300,000; this is in¬ 
dependent of the government water-races and dams, which 
have cost £450,000. 

Ground-sluicing is practised, and in some instances 
hydraulic mining has been introduced with heads of water 
from eighty to one hundred feet. The government has a 
tunnel eleven feet by seven feet, five thousand seven hun¬ 
dred and forty-four feet long, in course of construction. 


36 THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 

having already built the open Sludge-channel, eight miles 
long, at Naseby. Besides these several tunnels have been 
built by private individuals. 

At Gabriel Gully, Tuapeka, where the grade is very 
light, the hydraulic elevator is said to be working succes- 
fully ; and in the river Clutha dredging machines are at 
work on the auriferous deposits. North of Charleston, 
on the coast-line, the beach sands which contain gold are 
worked by a colony of Shetlanders. 

Extensive sluicing operations are carried on along the 
banks of the Molyneux, Kawarau, and Shotover rivers. 
At Tinkers and Dry bread Diggings forty sluice-heads of 
water, with one hundred and thirty feet head, conducted 
through forty-five hundred feet of iron piping, are used 
to hydraulic the gravel. The depth of the deposits on 
the so-called Maori bottom approximates thirty feet. 
The resources of the province in auriferous drift are 
very great. Ulrich considers part of the old Clutha Lake 
basin where Bendigo Creek enters, and along the foot of 
the range upon which Bendigo reef occurs, as especially 
worthy of the attention of the drift-miner. Miller’s Flat, 
between Arrow and Queenstown, a supposed old river- 
channel, is also considered rich. 

The Thames field, on the east side of the Hauraki 
Gulf, is a narrow strip of land twenty-five miles long and 
from two to four miles wide. The gold in this district is 
obtained chiefly from quartz reefs. In Tapu district gold 
is found in considerable quantities in the decomposed soil 
on the slopes of the hills. It is usually flaky and not at all 
water-worn. 

In Westland district the mines are classed as cement 
and alluvial workings. The cement is from one to six 
feet in thickness, and consists of quartz gravels which are 
found in connection with the coal series. The gold oc¬ 
curs in the lower portion of these beds. Alluvial work¬ 
ings are met with in all gullies cut in the auriferous 
series, but the gold is generally coarse. In the con- 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


37 


glomerate formation the gold is caught in the brown 
sandstone bottom over which the conglomerate lies. 

In the glacial drifts extensive claims have been worked 
and large quantities of gold have, been obtained. These 
deposits are interesting, inasmuch as they derive their 
gold, in all probability, from the slates of which the glacial 
drifts are composed. 

The black-sand beaches are composed of crystals of 
magnetic iron ore, which are found disseminated through 
the chloritic schist. The gold which is associated with 
the sand is supposed to have been derived from the 
Maitai slates, brought down in immense quantities by 
glaciers. This district includes the gold-fields of Waka- 
marina, Oueen Charlotte Sound, and Wairau vallev. 

Extensive sluicing is going on at present in Waka- 
marina district. The ground is spotted and the gold is 
distributed unevenly. The Queen Charlotte Sound field 
is a quartz-mining district. The Wairau valley is an al¬ 
luvial deposit, and is a comparatively new district. Gold 
occurs in almost all the gullies on the north bank oi the 
Wairau River. The gullies are all very narrow. Some 
of the claims have proved very rich. 

Canada. —In Canada gold is derived from the de- 
gradation of the upper Silurian and Devonian rocks. 
The Geological Commission, as early as 1852, determined 
the existence of auriferous alluvions extending over an 
area of more than ten thousand square miles. The prin¬ 
cipal deposits explored have been in the province of 
Quebec and in Nova Scotia. As notable may be men¬ 
tioned the workings along the Chaudiere River and its 
tributaries, the Du Loup and the Gilbert. Extensive 
deposits occur also to the southeast of the Notre Dame 
Mountains. 

Small local deposits ol high value have been worked, 
giving rise to great expectations, but as a whole the re¬ 
sults have been unsatisfactory. 

British Columbia. —In British Columbia gold was 


33 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


discovered in 1858 on the Frazer River, above New West¬ 
minster, causing a great excitement and a “ rush ” of pros¬ 
pectors. San Francisco was nearly depopulated by the 
exodus, and it is estimated that one-sixth of the voters -of 
California moved to the new placers. Gold was traced 
three hundred miles up the river to Cariboo. On the 
Peace River, two hundred and fifty miles still further 
north, gold was found. In 1872 discoveries in Cassiar 
district, eight hundred miles north of Victoria, caused 
the “ Stickeen River rush.” The Frazer River deposits 
were remunerative only to a limited extent and were 
soon worked out. In all the localities in this country 
the workings have been principally confined to shallow 
placers and river-bars, which are soon exhausted ; but 
at Cariboo there are channels beneath the beds of the 
present water-courses. Shafts are sunk from the sur¬ 
face to the auriferous channels through a covering of 
clay and gravel. The bed of the ancient stream, when 
reached, is followed by drifts. While handsome returns 
have been occasionally made (in 1861 nearly a million of 
dollars were extracted), the expenses of working, there 
being much water to contend with, are so large that the 
operations have almost entirely ceased. In the more 
northerly districts the climate presents great obstacles 
and work can be carried on only during a few months of 
the year. 

In Vancouver Island, in the Leech River district, gold 
has been found in a small area some twenty miles from 
Victoria. 

Lock * estimates that from 1858 to 1880 (twenty-two 
and a half years) gold of the value of $45,140,889 has been 
extracted from (principally) the alluvions of British Co¬ 
lumbia. 

United States of America.— Outside of California 
(which will be treated in the following chapter), up to the 
present time, the alluvial deposits worked have been prin- 

* “ Gold,” p. 38. 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 


39 


cipally shallow, and continued profitable development on 
a large scale is unknown. 

New England. —Gold has been found in Vermont 
and New Hampshire, and alluvial deposits of limited ex¬ 
tent have been exploited along the Green Mountains. But 
the production has been comparatively insignificant. 

Virginia. —Alluvial gold has been reported as found 
in Virginia in Montgomery and Floyd counties, along 
Brush Creek. In Goochland County the hydraulic pro¬ 
cess was tried in 1877. 

North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia.— 

The Appalachian gold fields extend through the States of 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Gold was 
first discovered in 1799, and in 1829 the discovery of pla¬ 
cers caused a great excitement. Two principal belts are 
known in North Carolina, one extending through Guilford, 
Davidson, Rowan, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg counties ; 
another through McDowell, Burke, and Rutherford coun¬ 
ties ; the latter has been traced into northern Georgia, 
where it forms the gold region in the vicinity of Dahlo- 
nesra. The latter is the more western and more elevated, 
and contains richer placers. 

The formation of these gold deposits has been attri¬ 
buted rather to the action of atmospheric influence than 
to deposition by large streams. '1 he best placers were 
exhausted at the time of the discovery of gold in Cali¬ 
fornia, and more recent attempts to work them on a large 
scale and by the hydraulic process have not met with 
success. 

Idaho.—Gold was first discovered in paying quan¬ 
tities near Pearce City, Idaho, in i860. The Territory 
of Idaho, then a part of Washington Territory, was 
organized in 1862. The principal placers were those in 
the Boise basin, which first attracted the attention of 
miners in 1862, and on the Snake and Salmon Rivers. In 
1865 the production of gold in the Territory amounted 
to $8,023,680, but the yield gradually decreased from that 


40 


THE RECORDS OE GOLD-WASHING. 


year, and the placers produced in 1880 only $879,644. 
The Boise basin has been nearly exhausted, and the lower 
Snake River bars, which are quite limited in extent, are 
practically deserted. Above Fort Hall work is still go¬ 
ing on. Salmon River was abandoned to Chinese labor 
in 1870. 

Montana. —Gold was found on Gold Creek, in Deer 
Lodge County, Montana, in 1852, but the developments 
did not attract much attention until 1862, when a rush 
of immigration took place. The yield of the district up 
to 1870 is estimated at $24,000,000. Extensive works are 
still being carried on in this county. In Lewis and Clarke 
County the gulches and foothills are known to be aurife¬ 
rous to a great extent; they have yielded and are still 
yielding large amounts of the precious metal. Alder 
Gulch, in Madison County, was discovered in June, 1863, 
and in three years is said to have produced $30,000,000 
(Raymond’s “Report.” 1870). Work is prosecuted still 
in this county'and also in Meagher County. 

Montana has contained some of the richest deposits 
known. Most of these have been worked as shallow pla¬ 
cers, and in many of the locations much trouble has been 
experienced in obtaining water. 

New Mexico. —Gold-placers are known to exist in 
New Mexico along the Rio Grande, from the Colorado 
line to the placers some forty miles south of Santa Fe, 
and also in the southwestern part of the Territory in the 
counties of Dona Ana and Grant. The latter have not 
been opened up to any great extent, although reports of 
exceedingly rich placers have long been current. The de¬ 
posits along the Rio Grande have been described by Ray¬ 
mond (“Mineral Resources, 1874”) and Prof. Silliman 
(“ The Rio Grande Gold-Gravels ”), who are authorities 
for the following statements. 

The auriferous gravels extend southerly from the Colo¬ 
rado line along the Rio Grande valley some one hundred 
md fifty miles, over a width of about forty miles, between 


THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 41 

the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the east and the Con¬ 
tinental Divide on the west. The southern portion, say 
seventy-five miles in lineal (northerly and southerlv) ex¬ 
tent, has been extensively denuded. The more northerly 
area has been eroded more or less, and contains accumu¬ 
lations of gravel, varying from fifty to -six hundred feet 
in depth. Overflows of volcanic rocks cover and protect 
or interstratify the gravels in very many instances. The 
gravel consists chiefly of quartz and quartzite, and, to a 
much less extent, of syenite, porphyry, granite, gneiss, and 
slate debris, and evidently has been carried to its present 
location from only a short distance, probably from the 
Archaean rocks of the Sangre de Cristo and other souther¬ 
ly ranges of the Rocky Mountains. The gold is said to be 
diffused through the alluvions with great uniformity. 

South of Santa Fe large Mexican grants contain ex¬ 
tensive deposits of gravel, where gold was discovered in 
1842, and whence in succeeding years large amounts of 
the precious metal are said to have been extracted. Ame¬ 
rican companies have been recently formed to work all 
these deposits along the Rio Grande, but thus far the ob¬ 
stacles to success seem to have been very great. 

Other States and Territories.— In various other 
States and Territories, as Colorado and Dakota, placer¬ 
mining has been carried on by small companies on a limit¬ 
ed scale. 


CHAPTER II. 


HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLACER-MINING IN 

CALIFORNIA. 

From the auriferous deposits of the State of California 
$1,100,000,000 have been extracted during the last thirty- 
five years.* 

The magnitude of the mining operations required to 
produce this enormous yield is but little known to the 
general public. The continuous flow of gold bullion has, 
however, made the State famous and attracted the atten¬ 
tion of political economists everywhere. 

First Mention of California. —The first mention 
of the name “California” occurs in connection with a 
supposed great island where gold and precious stones 
were found in abundance, described in a romance called 
“ Las Sergus de Esplandian,” published in Spain A.D. 1510. 
The followers of Cortez had chimerical ideas of some 
hidden El Dorado, and, strange to say, they applied the 
name California to that unknown country north of Mexico 
with which they associated the notion of a region of fabu¬ 
lous wealth. 

Discovery of Lower California. —The first expe¬ 
dition sent out by Cortez, in 1534, discovered what is now 
called Lower California. According to Father Venegas, 
this expedition, numbering some seven hundred souls, was 
fitted out at the port of Tehuantepec in the year 1537, and 
sailed north to the head of the gulf of California, but 
never reached the line which marks the southern boun¬ 
dary of the State of California. 

Contemporaneously with the departure of this party 
“ four persons, named Alvarez Nunez, Cabeza de Vaca, 

* Up to 1883. See Appendix A. 


42 


HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLACER-MINING. 43 

Castillo, and Dormentes, with a negro named Estevancio,” 
arrived at Culiacan, on the gulf of California, from the 
peninsula of Florida. These were the sole survivors of 
the three hundred Spaniards who in 1527 landed with 
Pamlilo Narvaez on the coast of Florida with the inten¬ 
tion of conquering that country. Nunez subsequently 
conducted the expedition which discovered the Rio de la 
Plata and effected the first conquest of Paraguay. 

Early Explorations* —In 1542 Mendoza, Viceroy of 
Mexico, sent Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese, to sur¬ 
vey the west coast of California. He explored the coast, 
naming the numerous headlands, the most northerly of 
which, in lat. 40° N., he called Cape Mendocino. Thence 
he proceeded further north to lat. 44 0 , which he reached 
March 10, 1543. 

In 1578 Sir Francis Drake entered the Pacific and 
sailed north as high as lat. 48°. According to Hakluyt’s 
account of the voyage, Drake spent five weeks in June 
and July, 1579, in a bay near lat. 38° N. 

First Mention of Gold. —The narrative says: 
“ Our General called this country New Albion. . . . 
There is no part of the earth here to be taken up where¬ 
in there is not a reasonable quantitie of gold and silver.” 
It is difficult to reconcile this statement with the facts as 
known at present, since in lat. 38° N. neither gold nor 
silver exists in “ reasonable quantitie ” near the ocean. 
This is, however, remarkable as the first mention of gold 
in California proper. 

In 1602 the Count de Monte Rey, Viceroy of New 
Spain, by order of the king, sent Sebastian Viscayno 
on an exploring expedition. He sailed from Acapulco, 
May 5, 1602, with two vessels and a tender, with Admi¬ 
ral Gomez in command. The expedition, composed of a 
large number of men, was fully equipped for one year’s 
voyage. Three barefooted Carmelites accompanied the 
party, and the several departments were entrusted to dis¬ 
tinguished officers, volunteers from BrittanjL 


44 


HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 


After a struggle with northwest winds, on November 

oo 

io, 1602, the fleet entered the harbor of San Diego * 
and, having spent a few days there, the expedition again 
sailed north. December 16, 1602, anchor was cast in 
Monterey Bay, which was named in honor of the viceroy. 
January 3, 1603, the fleet weighed anchor, and a period of 
one hundred and sixty-six years elapsed before this bay 
was revisited. January 12 the fleet passed the bay of 
San Francisco and anchored behind a point of land called 
“La Punta de los Reyes,” but did not enter San Fran¬ 
cisco harbor. The voyage was subsequently continued 
as far as lat. 4 5 0 N., from which point the fleet returned 
to Acapulco. 

First Mission established in Lower California. 

—In 1697 the first permanent mission was established by 
the Jesuits at Loreto, Lower California. “ These people,” 
says the historian, “ with patient art and devoted zeal, 
accomplished that which had defied the energy of Cortez 
and baffled the efforts of the Spanish monarchy for gene¬ 
rations afterwards.” 

First Mission in Upper California.—111 1769 the 
Jesuits were banished from Lower California. On the 
9th day of January, 1769, an expedition set sail from La 
Paz, in Lower California, to rediscover San Diego 'and 
Monterey. The vessels stopped at Cape St. Lucas, and 
left that point February 15 of the same year. On the 
1st of July, 1769, a land expedition which had started 
shortly after the vessels had set sail from Cape St. Lucas, 
under the immediate charge of Padre Junipero Serra, 
reached San "Hiego and established the first Franciscan 
mission in Upper California. 

Notwithstanding the facts revealed by the many ex¬ 
peditions, the geographers of that day still persisted 
in describing California as an island extending from 
Cape St. Lucas, at the tropic of Cancer, to lat. 45 0 

* An interesting account of this voyage is given by E. Randolph, Esq., “ Memoirs of the 
Society of California Pioneers.” 


OF PLACER-MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 


45 


N.,* and it was not until Father Begert’s map was pub¬ 
lished at Manheim, in 1771, that California was relieved 
of its insulai character. 

Early Discoveries of Placers. —At different times 
between 1775 an d 1828 small deposits of placer gold were 
found by Mexicans near the Colorado River. In 1802 a 
mineral vein supposed to contain silver was found at 
Olizal, in the district of Monterey. In 1828 a small gold 
placer was^discovered at San Isidro, in what is now known 
as San Diego County. 

Forbes, in his history of California, in 1835, says: 
“ No minerals of particular importance have yet been 
found in Upper California, nor any appearance of metals.” 

In 1838 the placers of San Francisquito, forty-five miles 
northwest from Los Angeles, were discovered. These 
deposits were neither rich nor extensive, but were worked 
steadily for twenty years. 

In 1841 Wilkes’ exploring expedition visited the coast, 
James D. Dana, mineralogist, accompanying the party. 
In the following year, in his work on mineralogy, Dana 
mentions that gold was found in the Sacramento valley, 
and that rocks “ similar to those of the auriferous forma¬ 
tions ” were observed in southern Oregon. 

May 4, 1846, Thomas O. Larkin, United States Consul 
at Monterey, said, in an official letter to James Buchanan, 
Esq., then Secretary of State : “ There is no doubt that 
gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, sulphur, and coal 
mines are to be found all over California, and it is doubt¬ 
ful whether, under their present owners, they will ever be 
worked.” 

On the 7th of July, 1846, the American flag was hoisted 
at Monterey and the country taken possession of by the 
United States. 

* See Ogilvy’s “America: being the latest and most accurate Account of the New 
World,” published in London in 1671. California is there laid down as an island, extending 
fiom Cape St. Lucas to lat. 45 0 N. See map by Capt. Shelvocke, R.N., “Voyage around 
the World by way of the South Sea,” published in London in 1726. See map published in 
Venice in 1546, Independent Order of Odd Fellows’ Hall, San Francisco. 


46 


HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 


Marshall discovers Gold at Coloma. —January 
19, 1848, James W. Marshall, while engaged in digging 
a race for a saw-mill at Coloma (thirty-five miles east 
from Sutter’s Fort), found some pieces of yellow metal 
which he and the half-dozen men working with him*at 
the mill supposed to be gold. “ He felt confident that he 
had made a discovery of great importance, but he knew 
nothing of either chemistry or gold-mining, and he could 
not prove the nature of the metal or tell how to obtain it 
in paying quantities. ... So Marshall’s collection of 
specimens continued to accumulate, and his associates 
began to think there might be something in his gold-mine 
after all.” * 

In the middle of February, Bennett, one of the party 
employed at the mill, went to San Francisco and returned 
with Isaac Humphreys, a man who had washed gold in 
Georgia, and who, after a few hours’ work, declared the 
mines to be richer than those of his own State. By 
means of a rocker he obtained daily about one ounce of 
gold, and soon all the hands of the mill were rocking for 
the precious metal. 

The record of the discovery of gold, as related by 
Parsons in his biography of Marshall, is somewhat dif¬ 
ferent from that published by Browne, and gives to Mar¬ 
shall alone the credit of the discovery. 

Other Gold Discoveries. —Pierson B. Redding, 
the owner of a large ranch at the head of the Sacramento 
valley, visited the mining works at Coloma, and imme¬ 
diately resolved to commence washing on his own pro¬ 
perty, which he thought was in a similar formation, and 
in a few weeks he had begun mining on a bar on Clear 
Creek, nearly two hundred miles northwest from Coloma. 
This example was followed by John Bid well, who, having 
seen Sutter’s works, commenced prospecting on the bars 
of the Feather River, seventy-five miles northwest from 
Coloma. 

* See “ Reports upon the Mineral Resources of the United States,” by J. Ross Browne, 1867. 


OF PLACER-MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 


47 


In March, 1848, the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was 
made, and Mexico ceded California to the United States. 
By ihe end of the same year mines were opened at far- 
distant points. Miners were at work in every large 
stream on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, from 
Feather River to the Tuolumne, a distance of one hun¬ 
dred and hfty miles. 

First Publication of Gold Discoveries. —The 

first printed notice of the discovery of gold appeared in 
the Californian (?), a newspaper published in San Fran¬ 
cisco, on March 15, 1848. On May 29 the same paper 
announced that its publication would be suspended, the 
whole population having betaken itself to the mines. 

In 1849 the placers of Trinity and Mariposa were 
opened. At this period hired men were the exception, 
every man working for himself, and rocker claims were 
very abundant. In 1850 the deposits of Klamath and 
Scott’s Valley were discovered. 

First Attempt to build Ditches. —The chief want 
of the placer-miner being water, the first noteworthy 
attempt at ditch-building was made in March, 1850, at 
Covote Hill, Nevada County. 

In the spring of the same year gold was reported as 
lying in heaps on the banks of Gold Lake, near Downie- 
ville. This caused a tremendous excitement and a rush 
of miners to that localitv. In a few weeks thousands re- 
turned from the lake poorer than when they started. 

On September 9, 1850, California was admitted into 
the Union as a State. The number of persons then en¬ 
gaged in mining was estimated at fifty thousand. River¬ 
mining at this period occupied a prominent place in the 
industries of the State. 

First Use of the “ Long Tom.” —The winter of 
1849-50 was very stormy and comparatively little work 
was done in the rivers or creeks, but in the spring of 1850 
mining was resumed on those bars which were subject to 
overflow only at extreme high water. The pick, shovel. 


48 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 

rocker, and wheelbarrow were the only implements then 
in use. Towards the end of 1850 the “Long Tom” was 
introduced. 

Discovery of Gold-Quartz Veins. —Extensive pros¬ 
pecting at this period for the sources of these gravel de¬ 
posits led to the discovery of gold-quartz veins, the most 
noted of which was the Allison Ranch mine in Nevada 
County. In 1851 came the rush to Gold Bluff, lat. 41 0 N. 

The work on dry bars gradually led to mining the 
river bottoms, which was first undertaken by means of 
wins: dams. Later the more venturous miners turned 
entire streams from their courses by means of flumes or 
ditches. 

First Working of Deep Deposits.- 1 — Simultane- 
ouslv the miners “pushed back” from the shallow placers 
to deep deposits which were worked by means of the tom, 
and with the advent of sluices in 1851 the low hill gravels 
were attacked and successfully mined. Coincident with 
the introduction of the sluice and washing of hill gravels 
came the employment of hired men in placer diggings. 

Sluicing. —The deep deposits of auriferous gravel 
were relatively poorer than the shallow placers, and open 
cuts, preparatory to sluicing, were requisite; a large sup¬ 
ply of water was a sine qua non , ditches became a neces¬ 
sity, labor was in demand, but without capital nothing 
could be accomplished. 

The sluice revolutionized gold-washing. With the ex¬ 
haustion of the surface diggings the river towns fell into 
decay, and those mountain districts where the deep auri¬ 
ferous beds were found soon became the prosperous coun¬ 
ties of the State. 

First Use of the Hydraulic Method. —It was 

evident that the sluices ran dirt faster than the shovellers 
could supply it; labor was expensive—men receiving 
from $6 to $8 per diem—and the claims were poor com¬ 
pared with the washings of 1849-50. In 1852 Edward 
E. Mattison, of Connecticut, with a view to economizing 


OF PLACER-MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 


49 


labor, used a stream of water under pressure. For this 
purpose water was conveyed to the claim in rawhide hose 
and discharged through a wooden nozzle against a bank. 
Torn by the water, the earth was carried into the sluices 
and shovelling was thus avoided. A large saving in the 
cost <?f mining was effected, a greater amount of material 
being washed in a shorter time. This was the first step 
in hydraulic mining. 

Canvas Hose. — Mattison’s experiments were imme¬ 
diately appreciated and his method adopted. Hose made 
of canvas was widely used, the canvas being strengthened 
by netting and bound with rope. 

Iron Pipe. —Towards the end of 1853 pipes made of 
light sheet iron were introduced as a substitute for canvas 
hose. The first iron pipe was used by R. R. Craig, on 
American Hill, Nevada County. It consisted of about 
one hundred feet of stove-pipe. In 1856 a firm in San 
Francisco commenced the manufacture of wrought iron 
pipes for hydraulic mining, and during the years 1856 and 
1857 a large sheet-iron pipe forty inches in diameter was 
laid for a water-conduit across a depression at Timbuctoo, 
in Yuba County. 

Inverted Siphons. — In 1869 a wire suspension 
bridge across the Trinity River, near McGillivray’s, was 
constructed by Joseph McGillivray. This bridge sup¬ 
ported a fifteen-inch wrought-iron pipe which conducted 
water from a ditch situated at an elevation of about two 
hundred and forty feet above the bridge. The length of 
the pipe was nineteen hundred and eighty feet, and the 
outlet was one hundred and thirty-three feet below the 
level of the inlet. In the fall of 1870 the Spring Valley 
Company, of Cherokee, Butte County, laid the first large 
“ inverted siphon ” in the mining regions. The siphon was 
made of wrought iron, riveted. It was thirty inches in 
diameter and fourteen thousand feet long, crossing a de¬ 
pression of nearly one thousand feet. 

Improved Nozzles. —With the substitution of sheet- 


5o 


HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 


iron pipe for canvas it was found necessary to retain a 
short piece of canvas hose in order to obtain a flexible dis¬ 
charge piece. This was inconvenient and troublesome. 
The ingenuity of miners was aroused, and the result was 
the introduction of a nozzle called the Goose Neck, which 
was a flexible iron joint formed by two elbows working- 
one over the other. 

The first Rifle. —The radius-plate, or rifle, was pat¬ 
ented by C. F. Macy in 1863, and was subsequently intro¬ 
duced and used in all metallic jointed discharge pipes 
which had elbows. 

The next improved hydraulic nozzle was invented by 
the Messrs. R. R. & J. Craig, of Nevada County. It was 
called Craig’s Globe Monitor. This nozzle proved a suc¬ 
cess and was adopted at once by the miners. Subsequent¬ 
ly the Hydraulic Knuckle-joint and Nozzle was invented 
by H. Fishei*, of Nevada County, and took the place of 
the Craig machine. In 1870 Mr. Richard Hoskins ob¬ 
tained a patent for his Dictator, a one-jointed machine, 
having an elastic packing in the joints instead of the metal¬ 
lic faces. A few months later Hoskins patented the noz¬ 
zle called the Little Giant, which was an improvement 
on the Dictator, and has to a great extent superseded the 
older inventions. 

Deflector. —The next advance in hydraulic discharge 
machines was an attachment to the nozzle called the 
“deflector,” the invention of Mr. H. C. Perkins, and pat¬ 
ented May, 1876. This is a short piece of pipe, about an 
inch larger in diameter than the nozzle, attached to the 
latter by a gimbal joint and operated with a lever. This 
improvement has been followed by the invention of the 
Hoskins Deflector. This latter is a flexible semi-ball joint 
between the end of the discharge pipe and the nozzle. It 
is operated by a lever. 

In 1852 and 1853 placer-mining was at the height of 
its prosperity. Labor was well paid, and employment 
was easily obtained by all who sought it. At this period 


OF PLACER-MINING IN CALIFORNIA. 


51 


there still remained a few of the rich surface deposits 
which had formerly been so numerous. 

First Drift-Mining*. —The first extensive drift-min¬ 
ing in the old river channels was commenced in 1852 at 
Forest Hill, Placer County; though in 1851 a surface 
claim at Brown’s Bar, on the Middle Fork of the Ameri¬ 
can River, was drifted out by Joseph McGillivray. 

In 1854, in consequence of the reported discovery of 
gold-diggings in Kern County, California, numbers of 
miners flocked to the southern part of the State, only to 
find there poor deposits of a very limited area. 

Table Mountain. —Some miners engaged in sinking 
a shaft near Jamestown, Tuolumne County, where the 
gravel had been washed away, discovered gold at Table 
Mountain. Simultaneously other miners traced a seam of 
gravel containing gold along its sides, and it was found 
that this seam ran into a deep, rocky channel lying under 
the mountain. ' The presence of water in great quantity 
frustrated all attempts to work this deposit. 

Deep Tunnels. —Further explorations developed the 
existence of channels running under this ridge, which were 
found to have a westerly course and to pitch deeper as 
work advanced. After several ineffectual attempts to 
drain the deposit, the gravel, which proved later to be 
exceedingly rich, was finally bottomed by a deep tunnel. 
“ Ten square feet, superficial measurement, yielded $100,- 
000, and a pint of gravel not unfrequently contained a 
pound of gold.” * 

An impetus to deep gravel mining or drifting was 
given by these developments, and extensive explorations 
of a similar character were undertaken subsequently in 
other parts of the State. 

During the years 1856 and 1857 river, bar, and gulch 
mining were less productive, but quartz and ditch inte¬ 
rests became more valuable. 

The Frazer River excitement of 1853 caused a stam- 


* See Ross Browne, “Reports on the Mineral Resources of the United States,” 1867. 


52 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLACER-MINING. 

pede of miners and speculators to British Columbia. The 
subsequent developments of these gravel fields occasioned 
loss to those who had been attracted thither by the desire 
of gain. 

In 1859-60 came the exodus to the Comstock, and in 
1862 the rush to Idaho followed. 

Hydraulic mining gained ground steadily from 1852 
to 1865. As the river bars and surface diggings one after 
another were exhausted, the working of the old river de¬ 
posits by the hydraulic process became a necessity. At 
the present time it is by this modern method of mining 
that the bulk of the gold of this State is produced, and in 
this business nearly $100,000,000 of capital are invested. 

The hydraulic process is now carried on upon such a 
gigantic scale and to so vast an extent as to require the 
assistance of the science of hydraulics and engineering. 
Heretofore, apart from the construction of ditches and 
tunnels necessary for washing the gold-bearing dirt, en¬ 
gineers have had but little to do with the management of 
hydraulic claims. 

The primitive placer-mining of 1852 to 1865 has passed 
into history. Forty-inch wrought-iron pipes have been 
substituted for canvas hose and stove-pipe, and with the 
replacing of one-inch streams by a mass of water dis¬ 
charged through nine-inch nozzles under 450-foot pres¬ 
sure the last remnants of the early methods disappeared. 


CHAPTER III. 


GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA * 

The topographical features of central California, as 
demonstrated by the explorations of the State Geological 
Survey, are found to be exceedingly simple. Four equi¬ 
distant parallel lines can be used in conveying a general 
idea of the physical geography of the State. 

The Three great Belts of California. —A “ main 
axial line,” whose course would be N. 31 0 W., passing 
through the culminating peaks of the Sierra Nevada for 
a distance of nearly five hundred miles, can be assumed 
as the eastern boundary of the gold region. A second 
parallel, drawn fifty miles west of the “ main axial line,” 
will skirt the west base of the Sierra Nevada, along the 
edge of the foot-hills, from Red Bluff to Visalia. A third 
parallel, run equi-distant from the second, will follow very 
closely the eastern edge of the Coast Ranges from the 
neighborhood of Clear Lake to that of Kern Lake, a dis¬ 
tance of over three hundred miles. A fourth equi-distant 
parallel will represent, as nearly as possible, the coast line 
of the Pacific, the western base of the Coast Ranges. 
These parallels divide the central portion of the State be¬ 
tween Red Bluff (about lat. 40° N.) and Fort Tejon (about 
lat. 35 0 N.) into three belts—viz., the Sierra, the Great 
Valley of California, and the Coast Ranges. 

This arrangement of the physical features holds good 
for a length of four hundred miles in the direction of the 
“ main axial line.” This division of California is the 
largest and by far the most important, embracing almost 

* See vol. i., “ Geological Survey of California,” and Whitney’s “ Auriferous Gravels 
of the Sierra Nevada of California,” which are the principal authorities for this chapter. 

53 


54 


TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 


the whole of the agricultural and the greater part of the 
mining districts. 

These lines divide the State geologically as well as 
physically. The Great Valley is the belt of recent allu¬ 
vial deposits ; the Sierra is the belt of intrusive granite, 
of strata principally of triassic and jurassic age, with im¬ 
portant pliocene river deposits, of ante-cretaceous eleva¬ 
tion, and of metamorphism induced by heat and pressure 
and resulting in a hard and crystalline condition of the 
rocks; the Coast Ranges form the belt of strata chiefly of 
cretaceous and tertiary age, of post-cretaceous elevation 
and of chemical metamorphism. 

The Sierra is the belt of the precious metal, with some 
iron and copper; the Coast Ranges, principally of quick¬ 
silver and carbonaceous materials. The Sierra is the 
region of lofty heights, the Coast Ranges of moderate 
elevations, and the Great Valley of nearly dead level. 

In the Sierra volcanic activity has ceased, but in the 
Coast Ranges solfataric action is still apparent. 

This parallelism does not exist in the northern and 
southern parts of California. North of lat. 40° N. the 
Sierra and Coast Ranges approach one another and finally 
connect, the distinction between them being not yet defi¬ 
nitely settled. In the south the Sierra swings to the west 
and joins, physically at least, with the Coast Ranges, 
which here, following the coast line, trend to the east. 
Thus the Great Valley is closed in its upper and lower 
extremities. Thei northern and the southern portions of 
the State have not been thoroughly examined, and the 
present knowledge of their topography and geology is 
very limited. 

The map accompanying this work shows the mountain 
ranges where the auriferous gravels exist and also the 
streams draining the hydraulic mining districts.* 


* The map was compiled from the latest official surveys by William Hammond Hall, 
State Engineer of California. For the purposes of this work certain additions have been 
made by the author. 


OF THE COAST RANGE BELT. 


55 


THE BELT OF THE COAST RANGES. 

Topographical Limits. —Exactly where the Coast 
Ranges begin and where they end is still an open ques¬ 
tion, and to decide this point satisfactorily more geological 
research is required. For the present general purpose, and 
until more exact data are furnished, it may be assumed 
that the belt of the Coast Ranges commences on the north 
at, or about, the mouth of the Klamath River. Its east¬ 
erly boundary will run southeasterly to the head of the 
Sacramento valley, in the neighborhood of Shasta, and 
thence continue to Fort Tejon. From this point it passes 
to the east of the San Gabriel range, through Cajon 
Pass, to the east of the Temescal range and to the south 
of the Sierra de Santa Ana, striking the ocean in the 
vicinity of San Luis Rey, or perhaps including a narrow 
strip of territory along the shore south to the Mexican 
boundary. 

Mountain System. —In this belt the mountains are 
not grouped in any one dominant range, but form nume¬ 
rous chains, much broken, and often running into one 
another, and all nearly parallel with the coast lines. 
These chains are separated by more or less distinct valleys, 
the system being broken through completely in only one 
place—namely, where the united waters of the Sacra¬ 
mento and San Joaquin rivers, which drain an area of 
fifty-seven thousand two hundred square miles, escape 
through Suisun, San Pablo, and San Francisco bays and 
the Golden Gate. 

Compared with the Sierra Nevada, the Coast Ranges 
attain but inferior elevations. The dominant peaks of 
the several chains vary in height from thirty-five hun¬ 
dred to six thousand feet, few exceeding this limit. 
In the Sierra, on the other hand, there are numerous 
points over fourteen thousand feet above sea level, and 
for a large part of the range the passes have an elevation 
of more than nine thousand feet. 


56 


TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 


General Topographical Structure. —In the ex¬ 
treme northwestern part of the State the general struc¬ 
ture of the Sierra Nevada prevails—an axial mass of 
granite associated with hard, crystalline rocks forming 
a high range. Coming south, and into the northern 
part of the Coast Range belt (west of Trinity and Kla¬ 
math rivers), the structure is modified, the granite disap¬ 
pears, the old crystalline rocks are replaced by newer 
and softer strata, the elevations decrease, and the ranges 
become more numerous and indistinct, although as far as 
Clear Lake there is still one dominating range, quite well 
defined and parallel with the coast line. 

South of Clear Lake the ranges are very much inter¬ 
mixed, the hills are lower and more rolling, and the val¬ 
leys are wider. The average elevation decreases steadily 
to the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, the point of maxi¬ 
mum depression. 

Further south, to the bay of Monterey, there are two 
distinct ranges, that of Mount Diablo on the east and the 
Santa Cruz mountains on the west, with the southern 
part of the bay of San Francisco and the important valley 
of Santa Clara between. 

South of the bay of Monterey, as far as San Luis 
Obispo County, the country becomes more mountainous 
and confused. The general elevation increases and the 
valleys become narrow and small. There can be dis¬ 
tinguished, however, three equally plain systems: the 
continuation of the Mount Diablo range, east of the San 
Benito River; the Gavilan range (connecting with the 
last at its southern extremity), between the San Benito 
and Salinas rivers; and the Palo Escrito hills and Santa 
Lucia range on the west. 

From the northern boundary of the belt to the south 
of this region the ranges have, in general, a sufficiently 
well marked northwest and southeast direction, as seen 
by the courses of the principal streams. Here, however, 
a change occurs, the coast line, and with it the mountain 


OF THE COAST RANGE BELT. 


57 


chains, making a sudden turn nearly east and west, or 
almost at a right angle. The Sierra Nevada also bends 
around towards the west and meets the Coast Ranges, 
and hence results a confusion of topographical structure 
and of geological formation. The highest elevation of 
the belt, that of Mount San Antonio in the San Gabriel 
range, is here attained. 

South of Los Angeles the coast line returns nearly to 
its former northwest and southeast course, and the ranges 
appear to come into general conformity with it; but there 
is apparently much irregularity in the details, of which, 
in fact, but little information is extant. 

General Geological Structure. —As a general rule 
the rocks of the belt of the Coast Ranges are altered and 
unaltered sandstones, shales and slates of cretaceous and 
tertiary formations, with more or less limestone. The 
sedimentary beds have been metamorphosed over wide 
areas, crushed and folded to form the various ranges. In 
some regions volcanic rocks appear in large quantities. 
Granite occurs here and there, but almost always in small 
masses, except where the Sierra Nevada makes its influ¬ 
ence felt. It forms an important feature, however, in 
some of the chains south of Monterey Bay, and forms the 
axis of the Santa Monica range, which differs in this re¬ 
spect from the other Coast Ranges. Other rocks are 
almost unknown, except where the Coast Ranges and the 
Sierra come into close contact. 

Metamorpliism. —The metamorphism of the rocks 
is principally chemical, and is very prevalent throughout 
the belt, often to such an extent that it is extremely diffi¬ 
cult, if not impossible, to distinguish between rocks of 
the most opposite nature, such as the eruptive and the 
sedimentary. Especially noticeable is the enormous ex¬ 
tent of change of slates into serpentine, in connection 
with which broken jaspery rocks, also a product of the 
alteration of slates, very commonly occur. These combi¬ 
nations of serpentines and jaspers are important to the 


53 


TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 


miner, as being the carriers of the quicksilver ores so ex¬ 
tensively worked. 

Cretaceous Formations. —The cretaceous forma¬ 
tions are geologically very important, especially from a 
mining point of view. In the sandstones of the upper 
part of this formation occur all the workable beds of coal 
yet discovered. ✓ 

Coal and Cinnabar Deposits. —Cinnabar deposits 
have been found in California in many localities and in 
rocks of nearly every age—in the Sierra Nevada and in 
the southern part of the State, in the triassic strata; in 
the Coast Ranges, also in the tertiary. But, so far as 
known, no valuable bodies of this mineral have been met 
with, except in the cretaceous, in which position it is 
known, in small quantities at least, in very numerous 
places, extending in a line with the metamorphic cre¬ 
taceous from across the Oregon line in the north to the 
vicinity of Santa Barbara in the south. 

The cretaceous formation, principally slates, jaspers, 
serpentine, and coarse sandstones, is almost the exclusive 
one north of Clear Lake ; and south from there to San 
Francisco, in which region limestone occurs quite fre¬ 
quently, it still predominates. South of San Francisco 
Bay it forms the central and prevailing mass of the 
Mount Diablo range, extending as far as the north end of 
Tulare Lake, and gradually yielding to the tertiary. It 
also constitutes the crest and eastern side of the Santa 
Cruz range. In, both these chains the cretaceous rocks 
are chiefly slates and sandstones, often highly altered, with 
limestone in smaller amounts ; and serpentine and jaspers, 
“ which have been traced unmistakably to their origin 
as cretaceous shales,” are abundant. South of Tulare 
Lake the cretaceous formation is local and comparatively 
unimportant. 

Tertiary Strata. —The tertiary strata are principally 
miocene, of marine origin, and for the most part are not 
much metamorphosed. They are hardly known north of 


OF THE COAST RANGE BELT. 


59 


Clear Lake, although the great bituminous slate forma¬ 
tion has been traced from Cape Mendocino through the 
country south to Los Angeles. 

South of the bay of San Francisco the strata of this 
slate formation are everywhere turned up at a high angle, 
Avhile north of the bay they are less disturbed. The ter¬ 
tiary, which is so limited north of San Francisco Bay, in¬ 
creases in importance going south. It flanks the cre¬ 
taceous on both sides of the Mount Diablo range, and 
gradually limits it. The western and larger portion of 
the Santa Cruz range (the geology of which is somewhat 
complicated by the presence of intrusive granite rocks in 
various places; is said to be miocene. In the Gavilan and 
Santa Lucia system of ranges the tertiary is continued, 
and granite and highly metamorphosed rocks occur in 
considerable quantity; but the region is dry and very 
rough, and has been but little explored. 

Asplialtum Deposits. — The different ranges in 
Santa Barbara and Ventura counties are made up chiefly 
of miocene rocks, consisting principally of a coarse-grained 
sandstone below, and over this a fine-grained slate or 
shale, often highly bituminous and generally very much 
contorted and tilted nearly vertical. In Santa Barbara, 
Ventura, and Los Angeles counties, where the tertiary 
bituminous slate predominates, the principal deposits of 
superficial asphaltum have been found, and here attempts 
have been made to strike flowing petroleum wells. 

As one approaches the Sierra Nevada to the east of 
this region, and also in going south, granite becomes 
more frequent and the sedimentary rocks get harder and 
more crystalline. There is a granitic belt forming a con¬ 
tinuation of the San Gabriel range, and connecting at 
Tejon Pass with the metamorphic and granitic masses of 
the Sierra, the crystalline rocks being apparently con¬ 
tinuous, but the disturbance of the tertiary and cretaceous 
formations not being visible east of Tejon Pass. The 
granite forming the divide between the branches of the 


6o 


TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 


Santa Clara River and the Mojave Desert is overlaid on 
the edge next the plain with stratified beds of recent vol¬ 
canic material. 

Tin Ore. —South of Los Angeles the ranges are of 
mixed character, and are very often considered as not 
belonging to the Coast Ranges proper. The Sierra de 
Santa Ana is composed on the south of granite, trap- 
pean and metamorphic rocks, while on the north coarse 
miocene sandstone and conglomerates prevail. The Te- 
mescal range consists principally of granite, porphyry, 
and metamorphic sandstone, partly cretaceous and partly 
tertiary. Here is the only known locality on the coast 
north of Mexico where tin ore has been found. 

Still further south toward the Mexican boundary there 
is, along the ocean shore, a narrow strip of unaltered cre¬ 
taceous and tertiary rocks. 

Pliocene Gravels. —Pliocene gravels occur in vari¬ 
ous places in the Coast Ranges, sometimes in large de¬ 
posits. These are in many cases the work of disinte¬ 
grating adjacent formations. Gold has been found in 
some places, but seldom in paying quantities. 

North of Clear Lake, at the bottom of the canons 
which have been cut out chiefly by running water, are 
sometimes small deposits of gravel of pliocene age. 
These, especially at the north, carry gold. Between 
Clear Lake and San Francisco the only large gravel bed 
is the extensive one east of, and not far from, Clear Lake. 
This bed is coyered in part by lava. 

There are several localities in which deposits of 
gravel, probably pliocene, occur in the miocene strata of 
the Mount Diablo range, as south of the Livermore val¬ 
ley, but these contain no gold so far as known. Similar 
deposits are also found on the eastern edge of the Santa 
Cruz range, as on the east slope of the Mount Bache 
ridge, where considerable ground has been washed for 
gold, but without profit. Between the Gavilan and 
Mount Diablo ranges, south of Tres Pinos, there is ail 


OF THE COAST RANGE BELT. 


6l 


immense mass of pliocene gravel, apparently non-auri- 
ferous, made up of pebbles of granite, red and green jas¬ 
pers, silicious slates, and other metamorphic material. 
In the Santa Lucia range, near the Mission San Antonio, 
placers have been worked to some extent, and gold has 
been found in small quantities in several places. 

The miocene strata of the ranges in Santa Barbara 
and Ventura counties are covered unconformably in 
places by nearly horizontal and slightly disturbed plio¬ 
cene beds. In various places south of the junction, near 
Fort Tejon, of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges, plio¬ 
cene gravels occur over small areas. At San Francisco 
canon these gravels have been washed and more or less 
gold obtained at various times since 1841 according to 
some authorities, and since 1838 according to Father 
Venegas. 

Along the San Gabriel range gold-washing has been 
carried on intermittently with more or less profit. At 
the base of the Sierra de Santa Ana are immense accu¬ 
mulations of gravel made up of the wash of disintegrated 
tertiary strata. 

Gold, Silver, and Copper Veins. —Veins of gold, 
silver, and copper have been reported at different locali¬ 
ties along the Coast Ranges. 

Eruptive Rocks. —A belt of eruptive rocks, of which 
Mount St. Helena is the culminating point, extends 
from near Napa to Clear Lake down to Suisun Bay, 
and large areas in this region are covered by lava, 
obsidian, pumice, and volcanic ashes. Especially in the 
vicinity of Clear Lake modern volcanic formations abound, 
and hot springs, sulphur beds, and other evidences of 
modern igneous action are common; but to the north 
of Clear Lake no volcanic phenomena of the kind are 
known, and south of San Francisco volcanic rocks 
are not found in any large quantities. Hot and sul¬ 
phur springs are, however, quite common in the Coast 
Ranges. 


62 


TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 


THE GREAT VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA. 

General Topography. —The valleys of the Sacra¬ 
mento and the San Joaquin rivers form in the centre of 
California a large plain, nearly elliptical in shape, extend¬ 
ing from near Shasta, in lat. 40° 40' N., to Fort Tejon, in 
lat. 34 0 50' N., an extreme length of four hundred and 
fifty miles, with an average width of forty miles, and an 
area of eighteen thousand square miles. 

This plain is comparatively level. The Sacramento 
River, between Shasta and its mouth, has an average fall 
of 2.8 feet per mile. The San Joaquin River, from Kern 
Lake to its outlet, has an average inclination of 1.1 feet 
per mile. The valley of the Sacramento is narrower than 
that of the San Joaquin. The southern portion of the 
latter is very level and contains several shallow lakes of 
considerable area. The evaporation here about equals 
the water supply. 

Dr {linage. —By far the larger part of the water com¬ 
ing into the Great Valiev is derived from the Sierra Ne- 
vada. There is hardly a stream which furnishes water 
throughout the year on the east slope of the Coast Ranges, 
certainly not one in the San Joaquin division. The 
fact that many rivers, passing chiefly through the mining 
regions, flow down the west slope of the Sierra and empty 
into the Sacramento or San Joaquin, makes the whole 
drainage system worthy of attention. 

Rainfall.— The rainfall of the Great Valley is com¬ 
paratively small, especially in the southern parts. On the 
east slope of the Coast Ranges the amount of water de¬ 
rived from rain is small. On the west slope of the 
Sierra there is considerable precipitation, chiefly in win¬ 
ter, and in great part in the shape of snow. In the spring 
and early summer the flow of water down the last men¬ 
tioned slope is greater than at other seasons, so much 
so that every year freshets occur. Heavy storms often 
cause destructive floods here, and if the theories of many 


OF THE SIERRA NEVADA. 


63 


who have written on the subject of forests are correct, 
these floods will increase in magnitude with the destruc¬ 
tion of timber in the Sierra. 

THE BELT OF THE SIERRA NEVADA. 

Topographical Structure. —The Sierra Nevada is 
a well-defined range of mountains situated on the edge of 
a high plateau, its eastern base being about four thou¬ 
sand feet high, while its western side slopes nearly to the 
sea-level. Its eastern flank is comparatively short and 
steep; its western, long and with a gradual descent, aver¬ 
aging in the central part of the State about one hundred 
feet per mile. This west side is broken by steep canons 
in which the present rivers flow, running at about right 
angles with the axis of the ridge, so that an elevation of 
three thousand to four thousand feet above the sea-level 
the divide between any two streams is from several hun¬ 
dred to two thousand feet, or more, above the bottoms of 
the canons on either side. 

In the northern part of the State the range is outlined 
indistinctly, consisting of broken ridges with several pro¬ 
minent peaks. The general elevation may be assumed to 
be seven thousand or eight thousand feet. Mount Shasta, 
the highest point of this section, rises to a height of four¬ 
teen thousand four hundred and forty feet, dominating 
over all the others. South of this, from Lassen’s Peak 
(lat. 40° 40' N.) to near Tejon Pass (lat. 35 0 N.), the Sierra 
Nevada forms one clearly defined crest, gradually in¬ 
creasing in height toward the south. Along the head¬ 
waters of the Feather River, in Plumas and Sierra coun¬ 
ties, the elevation of the prominent peaks is about nine 
thousand feet, and of the passes from five thousand to six 
thousand feet. Lassen’s Peak rises ten thousand five hun¬ 
dred feet above the sea-level. The western slope here 
has a total width of some eighty-five miles. 

Around the head-waters of the American River, in 
Nevada, Placer, and El Dorado counties, the main crest is 


64 


TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 


a little over nine thousand feet high, and the passes seven 
thousand to eight thousand feet; Donner Pass, through 
which the Central Pacific Railroad is built, being seven 
thousand feet high. The range here divides into two 
crests between which lies Lake Tahoe, a body of water 
twenty miles long, eight to twelve miles wide, and a lit¬ 
tle over six thousand feet above sea-level. 

At the head-waters of the Merced and Tuolumne 
rivers, in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties, the main 
peaks are twelve thousand to thirteen thousand feet high, 
and the passes nine thousand to ten thousand feet. The 
width of the western slope is fully eighty miles. 

The highest Sierra is between lat. 37 0 3P N. and lat. 36° 
N., in the region of the head-waters of the Kern, King’s, 
and San Joaquin rivers. Here the main crest is twelve 
thousand to thirteen thousand feet high, with numerous 
points exceeding fourteen thousand feet, Mount Whitney 
being the culminating peak. The west slope is some fifty 
miles wide, with an average descent of two hundred and 
fifty feet to the mile. 

Still further south the range turns to the west, and 
from this point is less marked in its character. In 
the southern part of the State is a mass of high, broken 
ranges (the San Bernardino range being the most ex¬ 
tensive) allied in their general structure and formation to 
the main Sierra Nevada, but as yet insufficiently ex¬ 
plored. 

General Geological Structure. — The Sierra Ne¬ 
vada is made up ol: 

(1) a central intrusive core of granite, flanked by 

(2) metamorphic slates of triassic and jurassic age (the 
so-called auriferous slate formation), over which lies 

(3) a covering of cretaceous, tertiary, and post-tertiary 
deposits, which are either 

(a) the river deposits which form the material which 
is washed, either by hydraulic or drift process, to extract 
the gold contained therein ; or 


OF THE SIERRA NEVADA. 


65 


(fi) sedimentary volcanic layers ; or 

(c) lava; or finally, in some places, 

(d) marine formations. 

Granite. — 1 he granite occurs in the extreme north¬ 
western part of the State, disappearing in the northeast¬ 
ern under the extensive lava beds, reappearing in Butte 
and Plumas counties, and continuing to increase in amount 
of exposure toward the south, until in Fresno and Tulare 
counties it forms territorially by far the greater part of the 
belt, extending from the crest almost down to the plain. 

Auriferous Slate Formation. —The auriferous 
slate formation, consisting chiefly of metamorphic, crys¬ 
talline, argillaceous, chloritic and talcose slates, appears 
with, but subordinate to, the granite in the northwest. It 
appears again in Plumas and Butte counties, increasing 
in importance as the overlying lava decreases. North of 
the American River it occupies nearly the whole width 
of the western slope of the Sierra, with occasional areas 
of granite enclosed in it. Going south, it gradually con¬ 
tracts in width, being of but little importance south of 
Mariposa County. I11 the extreme south, at the junction 
of the Sierra and the Coast Ranges, it reappears and con¬ 
tinues in San Bernardino and San Diego counties in con¬ 
nection with the granite. 

The strata of this formation are elevated very con¬ 
siderably, often in a nearly vertical position. Speaking in 
very general terms, it may be said that the strike of the 
slates is usually parallel with the axis of the range and the 
dip in the southern portion of the belt is generally to the 
east. 

Gold Quartz Veins. — In this formation occur al¬ 
most exclusively the veins of quartz which carry gold in 
amounts which pay for working. While such veins occur 
also in the granite, and likewise, as has been mentioned, 
in some of the Coast Range formations, the paying gold 
quartz is rarely found outside of the auriferous slate 
formation. Some of these veins are of very great size, 


66 


TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 


notably the “ great quartz vein,” which has been traced 
from near the centre of Amador County through Cala¬ 
veras and Tuolumne into Mariposa to the Mariposa Es¬ 
tate, a distance of eighty miles. The vein attains a width, 
in places, of several hundred feet. 

Carboniferous Limestones. —There are certain 
limestones in Shasta and Butte counties which are car¬ 
boniferous, the oldest formation known in the State, and 
which are possibly the same as those found here and there 
throughout the gold-mining region. 

Marine Sedimentary Deposits. —The marine sedi¬ 
mentary deposits of cretaceous and tertiary age occur in 
the foothills all along the eastern margin of the Great 
Valley, lying unconformably on the upturned edges of 
the auriferous slates. Their greatest development is in 
Kern County, between Kern and White rivers. The rock 
is lor the most part a soft sandstone, made up chiefly of 
granite debris. 

Lava. —The chief lava country is in Plumas and Butte 
and the region north of these counties, and east of Trinity 
and Klamath rivers. Here is a series of volcanic cones, of 
which Lassen’s Peak and Mount Shasta are the most pro¬ 
minent, from which flowed, in the later tertiary or still 
more recent times, the streams of lava which now cover 
many thousands of square miles of northern California 
and southern Oregon. The limitation of the auriferous 
belt at the north, in Plumas and Butte counties, is due 
not to the thinning out of the gold-bearing formation, but 
to its being covered by this volcanic mass. 

Along the crest of the Sierra, to the south, are nume¬ 
rous volcanic vents and here and there are areas of lava, 
but these are comparatively small.* 

Sedimentary Volcanic Layers. —Very frequent, 
and associated with the gravel deposits, are the sedimen¬ 
tary volcanic layers, consisting of fragments of lava which 

* As to the Tuolumne Table Mountain see J. Ross Browne, “Mineral Resources of the 
U. S.,” 1867, page 25. 



OF THE SIERRA NEVADA. 


6/ 


have been carried to a distance by water and deposited 
as breccia or conglomerate of volcanic ashes or lapilli. 
These layers stratified, often in alternation with gravel 
or clay, generally cover the gravel deposits. 

Gravel Deposits. —The gravel deposits occur in 
every variety of texture, from very hue pipe clay, 
through sands and gravels, to rolled pebbles and boul¬ 
ders sometimes weighing ton's. It is now generally ac¬ 
cepted that they have been laid down by the action of 
a system of tertiary rivers, which had the same general 
course (nearly) as the present streams on the west slope 
of the Sierra, but whose channels were wider and slopes 
greater. The waters of these rivers, eroding the auri¬ 
ferous slates with the included quartz veins, concentrated 
the precious metals in deposits often three hundred and 
fifty to four hundred feet wide at the bottom and some¬ 
times several thousand feet wide on top. Their depth 
now varies from a few inches to six or seven hundred feet. 
Volcanic eruptions have in places covered these deposits 
with lava and tufa hundreds of feet deep. Denudation 
and erosion ensued and the products of volcanic activ¬ 
ity have sometimes been covered in turn with gold-bear¬ 
ing detritus. Quantities of fossil wood and numerous re- 
mains of land and water animals have been found in the 
deposits and are being constantly unearthed as the mines 
are being worked.* 

The deep canons of the rivers of the extreme northern 
counties, especially the Klamath and its branches, contain 


* In reference to the occurrence of gold the following note, taken from the Engineering 
and Mining Journal, February 10, 1877, relative to the discovery of pay gold in the New 
South Wales coal measures, will be found interesting. Mr. C. S. Wilkinson, F.R.S., writes 
from the Geological Survey Office, Geelong, under date of November 25, to the Mining De¬ 
partment, as follows: 

“During my examination of the Tallawang Gold Field Reserve I observed the important 
fact that the gold found in tertiary alluvial deposits at the old Tallawang and Clough’s Gully 
diggings has been chiefly derived from conglomerates in the coal measures. These conglo¬ 
merates are associated with beds of sandstone and shales containing the fossil plant of our 
coal measures, th cglosso/>teris. . . . This is the first time that gold has been noticed to occur 
in payable quantity in the coal measures in the colony, and it is not unworthy of remark that 
we here possess one of the most ancient alluvial deposits in the world.” 


68 


TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 


large amounts of gravel which have been washed quite 
extensively. These gravels are, however, thought to be 
ordinary river deposits on a large scale. In the southern 
part of the State, in Santa Barbara and San Diego coun¬ 
ties, gold-washing has been carried on to some extent, but 
under unfavorable conditions and apparently without 
much profit. 

Deposits at La Grange. — The deposits at La 
Grange, Stanislaus County, in a distance of one and a 
half miles in a northerly and southerly direction, cross 
four distinct and widely varying formations (see annexed 
topographical and geological section), which, enumerated 
in accordance with their relative ages, are: argillaceous 
slates, occurring north of the Tuolumne River, probably 
jurassic ; diorite ; a thin stratum of basaltic tufa; and post¬ 
pliocene auriferous deposits of sand and gravel. 

The slates have a general strike northwesterly and 
southeasterly, parallel to the general trend of the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains, and dip at an angle of about sixty de¬ 
grees. The diorite is occasionally porphyritic, changing 
into aphanite and serpentine in places which, so far as ob¬ 
served, are not on the direct line of the section. It some¬ 
times contains quartz, and must be classed as syenitic. 
Where overlaid by basaltic tufa or gravel it is very much 
decomposed, presenting the appearance of clay shale, 
showing thick-bedded stratification, a water-worn and un¬ 
dulating surface, with numerous pot-holes similar to a 
river bed. 

The basaltic tufa, from two to six feet thick, occurs in 
more or less isolated patches, having been washed away 
in places and cut up by streams previous to or during the 
deposition of the gravel. It is generally of a light green¬ 
ish or yellowish color, occasionally pink or of a rusty iron 
tinge, and frequently contains angular quartz pebbles and 
rounded masses of flint-like rock. 

The auriferous deposits of sand and gravel rest upon 
the tufa, and are not capped by any volcanic flow. Bones 



OF THE SIERRA NEVADA. 


69 


and teeth of the elephant have been found imbedded in 
them. The gravel is composed of such rocks only as are 
found to the eastward in the foothills and the mountains: 
of the Sierra Nevada, and consequently must have come 
from that general direction. 

A section of the gravel occurring in the New Kelly 
claim shows the deposit to consist of : 


I. Top soil (red sand). 

II. Coarse red gravel with sand (the gravel is chiefly 
granite). 

III. Red cement hard-pan. 

IV. White sandy clay. 

V. Red cement hard-pan. 

VI. Sand and pebbles. 

VII. Loose yellowish sand... 

VIII. Dark-colored gravel of granite, slate, porphyry, 
greenstone, aphanite, serpentine, quartzite, 
diorite, etc. 


1.7 feet. 


6.1 

6.0 

0.8 

3-3 

6.5 

7-4 


6i 


i i 


13-2 


( t 


Total. 45-0 “ 

Quartz gravel of large size is of rare occurrence. 
Boulders of diorite, several tons in weight, are common 
in some of the deeper holes of the bed-rock. The greater 
part of the gold is confined to the lower stratum of gravel, 
next to the bed-rock, and is associated with magnetic iron 
and platinum. 












CHAPTER IV. 


THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN DEPOSITS AND THE 
VALUE OF DIFFERENT STRATA. 

No absolutely satisfactory explanation has yet been 
given of the distribution of gold in deposits. * 

The opinion is held by some that the precious metal 
is uniformly disseminated throughout the beds. But this 
is the case only in very exceptional instances, and the un¬ 
equal distribution of the gold f is so general as to have 
given rise in California to the expression “ pay dirt,” 
which means the stratum or strata containing gold in 
amounts which render work profitable. 

Top Gravel sometimes pays. —In a few instances 
the gold occurs in comparatively large amounts in thin 
streaks of cemented gravel scattered here and there in 
the alluvions, and in some shallow banks ^ it is quite 
generally disseminated. Even in high banks the upper 
portion or “ top gravel,” when consisting of fine light 
quartz-wash with no boulders or pipe-clay, and where the 
cost of hydraulicking is very small (owing to the facilities 
of a heavy grade, sufficient dump, and cheap water), has 
been washed at a profit, though carrying an insignificant 
amount of gold per cubic yard. For this reason the miner 
always tests the whole of the deposit. 

* See “The Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California,” p. 516. By J. D. 
Whitney. 

t On the subject of the relative position of gold in deposits see Report of Mr. Stutchbury, 
Government Geologist of New South Wales ; Quarterly Jour. Geol. Soc. 1858, p. 583, M. A. 
Selwin ; “ Gold-Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria,” pp. 81, 82, 87, 131, 173, R. Brough 
Smythe ; Cotta’s “ Lehre v. d. Erzlagerstatten,” vol. i. p. 101, and vol. ii. p. 556 ; Murchison’s 
“ Russia and the Ural Mts.,” vol. i. pp. 482-487, and “ Siluria,” p. 456 ; Whitney’s “ Auri¬ 
ferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada,” p. 361 ; J. Grimm’s “ Lagerstatten d. Nutzbaren Mine- 
ralien,” p. 26 ; Hartt’s “ Geol. and Phys. Geog. of Brazil,” pp. 50, 51, 159, 160 ; Mawe’s Tra¬ 
vels, pp. 222-227 ; Munroe’s “ Mineral Wealth of Japan,” Trans. Amer. Inst, of Mining Engi¬ 
neers, vol. v. p. 236; “ Gold Deposits of Jaragua,” Ann. d. Mines , 1817, vol. ii. p. 202. 

% See “ Gold-Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria,” p. 84. 


DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN GRAVEL. 


/I 


The top gravel of the channel which passes through 
Columbia Hill, Nevada County, has in several instances 
been successfully washed. This is especially remarkable 
on account of the great depth of this deposit, which, from 
the explorations on Badger Hill and Grizzly Hill, is in¬ 
ferred to be from six hundred to six hundred and twenty 
feet deep. 

Gold in the Grass-Roots. —Not unfrequently a fine 
lamina gold is found in the grass-roots. This last men¬ 
tioned circumstance is in no way localized, the same fact 
having been noted in other countries. Mawe called atten¬ 
tion to the existence of gold in the grass-roots on Mount 
San Antonio,* in Brazil ; and Walsh states that gold was 
first discovered in the deposits between San Jose and San 
Joao, Brazil, by Paulistas, who, pulling tufts of grass, 
found numerous particles of gold entangled in the 
roots.” f 

Pay Gravel sometimes high above Bed-Rock. 

— At the Polar Star Mine, Indiana Hill, Placer County, 
the best pay was found from six to eighty feet above bed¬ 
rock. At diggings near Forest Hill, Placer County, the 
p-ravel twentv to sixty feet above the bed-rock has yielded 
profits. At Bath a stratum one hundred feet above bed¬ 
rock was drifted profitably and the top dirt hydraulicked 
subsequently. 

Pay Gravel generally near Bed-Rock. —But ex¬ 
perience has proved that, as an almost universal rule, the 
top gravel of deep alluvions is not rich enough to warrant 
large investments of capital. Also that the “ pay ” is ob¬ 
tained, not from the washings of the entire bank, but 
chiefly from that stratum or those strata which are in 
most cases within eight or ten feet of the bed-rock. 
Where this is of slate upturned on its edges the gold 
frequently permeates it one or two feet.J 

* Mawe’s Travels, p. 264. t Walsh’s “ Notices of Brazil.” 1828-29, vol. ii. p. 122. 

% See Murchison’s “ Siluria,” p. 456, and “Russia and the Ural Mountains,” vol. i. p. 
487 ; also “ Gold-Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria,” pp. 86, 106. 


72 


DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN GRAVEL. 


Tuolumne River Claims. — The gold alluvions 
found near and along the banks of the Tuolumne River, 
Stanislaus County, present some striking examples of the 
distribution of the precious metal. The pay dirt in the 
Chesnau claim is confined to within six feet of the bed¬ 
rock. In the Sicard claim, six hundred feet south of the 
last and across a ravine, with banks twenty to forty feet 
high, the gold is disseminated more generally so long as 
there are no sand strata ; but whenever the latter appear 
the pay is confined to near the bed-rock. 

In the Patricksville Light claim the pay stratum is six 
or seven feet thick and adjoins the bed-rock. The gold is 
concentrated in this layer so long as there are sand strata 
in the bank, but with their disappearance it becomes more 
diffused throughout the detritus. 

At the French Hill claim the pay was limited almost 
exclusively to the gravel near the bed-rock. 

. Nevada County. —The bulk of the pay dirt in the 
cement gravel in Nevada County is within thirty feet of 
the bottom. In drift claims the workings are nearly al¬ 
ways confined to within a few feet of the bed of the 
channel. 

Sand generally poorer than Gravel. —In the 

gold-bearing drift of the Sierra Nevada layers consisting 
exclusively of wash-sand are generally found to contain 
very little if any of the precious metal. 

Rich Pay in Undulations and Depressions.— 
At French Hill, Stanislaus County, where the bed-rock 
was undulating, and in depressions found around a little 
hill formed by a sudden rise in the bed-rock, the gravel 
paid better than in any other portion of the claim. 

The gold-fields south of Miask,* in the Ural Mountains, 
present a similar case, all the undulating ground and de¬ 
pressions around conical hills being the most productive 
of gold. 

At the Patricksville Light claim a large hole in the 

* “Russia and the Ural Mountains, 1 ’ vol. i. p. 488. 




VALUES OF DIFFERENT STRATA. 73 

bed-rock, twenty-five feet deep, was bottomed. The hole 
was tilled with gravel, but no pay was obtained. The pay 
stratum was found to be on a level with, and a continua¬ 
tion of, the pay stratum of the rest of the claim. On the 
other hand, at the Chesnau and French Hill claims when¬ 
ever these hollows are found a large yield of gold is in¬ 
variably obtained. 

The experience of miners in the gold-fields of Victoria 
has led to the conclusion that “ in large auriferous rivers 
gold is always found on the bars or points, and not in 
the deep pools or bends.” In substantiation of this are 
cited Reid’s Creek, Woolshed, Twist’s Fall, Yackandanah 
near Osborne’s Flat, and Rowdy Flat; at each of these 
places large holes were cleaned out and only a few colors 
obtained, while shallow fiats immediately below them were 
very rich.* 

In gulch-mining it sometimes happens that from the 
position of the bed-rock the detrital accumulations assume 
the form of reclining cones, the apex reposing upon the 
top of the hill. Where such is the case the bulk of the 
gold is concentrated in the lower end of the deposit. 
These gulches are frequently found to be exceedingly 
rich. 

These facts are cited merely as an explanatory outline 
of the subject, and to show why a system of sluicing 
should be adopted which bottoms the entire deposit. 

EXAMPLES OF THE COMPARATIVE VALUES OF THE DIF¬ 
FERENT GRAVEL STRATA. 

North Bloomfield. —To ascertain the comparative 
value of the gravel strata at Malaboff, Nevada County, on 
the ground of the North Bloomfield Mining Company, a 
series of tests was made of the dirt extracted from a shaft 
sunk, two hundred and seven feet deep, in the channel. 
The first one hundred and twenty feet from the surface 


* “ Gold-Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria,” p. 134. 


74 


VALUES OF DIFFERENT STRATA. 


contained a large number of very fine colors to the pan, 
but of inconsiderable weight. The gravel from the re¬ 
maining eighty-seven feet, sunk to the bed-rock, contained 
coarser and heavier gold, the last eight feet averaging 
from 5 to 20 cents per pan. Drifts opened from the bot¬ 
tom of this shaft were systematically sampled and com¬ 
pared with equal quantities taken from the layers of the 
upper bank. The several samples aggregated two and a 
half tons, all of which were panned out carefully in two 
hundred and fortv tests ; and the results obtained showed 
that the blue or lower gravel stratum contained $1 50 per 
ton, while the white or upper gravel gave a large number 
of fine colors, but of insignificant weight. 

From 1870 to 1874 the North Bloomfield Mining Com¬ 
pany washed three and one-quarter million cubic yards of 
top gravel, which yielded only 2.9 cents per cubic yard 
and a gross profit of $2,232 84. In 1877 a rough estimate 
was made of the comparative yield of the upper and lower 
gravel washed during the year. The top gravel was 
assumed to be from a few feet to over two hundred feet 
deep, and the bottom gravel sixty-five feet deep. 

The results obtained were that 1,591,730 cubic yards 
of top gravel yielded 3.8 cents per cubic yard, and 702,- 
200 cubic yards of bottom gravel returned 32.9 cents per 
cubic yard. 

Patricksville Light Claim. —To investigate more 
thoroughly the question a test of top and bottom gravel 
was made at the Light claim, Patricksville : 58,340 cubic 
yards of top gi*avel yielded $1,200, or 2 cents per cubic 
yard. The bottom gravel (four feet deep) was then 
washed, when it was discovered that two-thirds of this 
gravel had been drifted extensively ; but notwithstand¬ 
ing this fact 4,966 cubic yards yielded $2,775 °7> or 55 
cents per cubic yard. 

La Grange Light Claim.— A trial of top dirt was 
also made at the Light claim, La Grange: 41,038 cubic 
yards of top dirt yielded $1,500, or 3.7 cents per cubic 


VALUES OF DIFFERENT STRATA. 


75 


yard. The ground, in both of the last mentioned in¬ 
stances, was surveyed and the returns per cubic yard are 
as accurate as it is practicable to obtain. 

Polar Star Mine. —In the appendix to the “ Aurife¬ 
rous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California,” Pro¬ 
fessor W. H. Pettee estimates the value of the top gravel 
at the Polar Star Mine to be about 11 cents per cubic 
yard, and at Quaker Hill the yield of the top gravel is 
supposed to approximate 6 cents per cubic yard. The 
yield of the bottom gravel, however, is not given, and the 
estimates of the upper gravel are approximates based on 
the statements of others, and not the results of accurate 
detailed surveys. 


CHAPTER V. 


AMOUNT OF WORKABLE GRAVEL REMAINING IN 

CALIFORNIA. 

The quantity of auriferous gravel remaining on the 
flanks of the Sierra Nevada is very great, but necessarily 
the amount available for hydraulic mining is limited. 

Minimum Ray Yield .—The minimum yield per 
cubic yard of material which can be mined profita¬ 
bly, must be considered in determining the extent of 
workable deposits. This cannot be stated in advance 
without a knowledge, in any given case, of the other 
factors : as area of ground, character and depth of deposit, 
facilities for working and dump, supply and cost of water, 
price of labor and amount of capital invested. In certain 
localities, even under very disadvantageous circumstan¬ 
ces, it has paid to work gravel yielding only four cents 
per cubic yard; and Mr. Skidmore states that, within his 
personal knowledge, a claim near Iowa Hill, Placer Coun¬ 
ty, in 1879 paid “a fair profit” when the product was 
only three cents per cubic yard. 

With an abundance of cheap water, four per cent, 
grades, good dump, banks of light gravel one hundred 
and fifty feet in height and over, a large area of ground, 
labor at one dollar per diem, and good management, the 
total running expenses ought not to exceed three cents per 
cubic yard at the present time, and with present methods. 
Therefore under these conditions gravel yielding more 
than three cents per yard ought to pay a greater or less 
rate of interest on the capital invested in the purchase of 
the claim and water rights, the building of necessary 
ditches, flumes, pipes, etc., and in the other appliances 
requisite for commencing active operations. 

76 


AMOUNT OF WORKABLE GRAVEL IN CALIFORNIA. 77 

The reports of the State Engineer of California (1880) 
and of Lieut.-Col. Mendell, U. S. A. (1882), give the fol¬ 
lowing data of the estimated amounts of workable gold 
deposits remaining along the rivers of the principal hy¬ 
draulic region on the west flank of the Sierra Nevada in 


California: 

Cub. yds. of Gravel. 

The Upper and Lower Feather, large amounts. Unestimated. 

The Yuba and its tributaries, about. 700,000,000 

The Bear “ “ “ . 50,000,000 

The American “ “ . 75,000,000 

The Cosumnes, principally at Hill Top, from 11,000,- 

000 to 12,000,000, say. 11,500,000 

The Mokelumne, enormous amounts, but not favor¬ 
ably situated. Unestimated. 

The Calaveras, upper portion. Unestimated. 

“ “ lower portion, principally at Jenny 

Lind. 22,500,000 

The Stanislaus. Unestimated. 

The Tuolumne, large amounts. Unestimated. 


“ The quantity of auriferous gravel now remaining on the flanks of the 
Sierra Nevada is practically unlimited. Only a comparatively small portion 
of the whole can be regarded as workable under existing conditions.” * 

Since Mr. Hague’s report upon Eureka Lake proper¬ 
ty (1876), wherein it is stated that the quantity to be 
mined between the Yubas was 700,000,000 cubic yards 
(roughly estimated), explorations have proven that this 
estimate is too large. It is true that there was that quan¬ 
tity of gravel, and perhaps more, in that locality. But 
since then a quantity, possibly exceeding 100,000,000 yards, 
has been mined out, and the result of the work has prov¬ 
en that a portion of this gravel channel can never be 
mined profitably, for the reasons, 1st, that it is capped 
with lava and cannot be hydraulicked, and it will not pay 
to drift; and, 2d, another portion is so situated that it 
is impossible to drain it, or it is too far from the streams 
to dispose of the debris. It is now estimated that not 
more than 400,000,000 cubic yards of gravel remain here 
available for washing. 


* Report on Mining Debris in Cal. Rivers, by Lieut.-Col. G. H. Mendell, U.S.A., p. 35. 












CHAPTER VI. 


THE DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING GOLD-PLACERS. 

The gold alluvions occur in many different forms : 
in river channels, in basins and on flats, as surface de¬ 
posits of sand and gravel, or as accumulations of detritus 
(consisting of clay, sand, gravel, pebbles, and boulders of 
all sizes) covered with varying thicknesses of lava and 
other volcanic products. 

Miners’ Classification of Deposits. —Miners clas¬ 
sify the deposits in various ways, according to their mode 
of occurrence and topographical position, and according 
to the mining systems employed in working them. The 
term “ shallow placers ” is applied to deposits whose 
depth varies from a few inches to several feet, to dis¬ 
tinguish them from “ deep placers,” which often cover 
large areas and have a depth varying from one hundred 
to several hundred feet. 

“ Hill Claims,” or deposits of gravel on hills ; “ Bench 
Claims,” or placers occurring in bench form on declivi¬ 
ties and above the level of existing rivers; “ Gulch Dig¬ 
gings,” found in gulches and ravines; “ Flat Deposits,” on 
small plains or flats ; “ Bar Claims,” or bars of sand and 
gravel on the sides of streams, generally above the water- 
level ; and “ Beach Sands,” or the auriferous sands of the 
sea-shore, are terms in common use, as well as the names 
“sluice,” “ drift,” and “ hydraulic ” diggings. 

Classification of Mining Operations. —The min¬ 
ing methods in common use may be divided into two 
general classes—viz., Surface-Mining and Deep-Mining. 

78 


DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING. 


79 


SURFACE-MINING. 

This term may be applied to the operations on the shal¬ 
low placers from which in early days large returns have 
been obtained, but which from their nature are of a tran¬ 
sient character, and in California are no longer in use 
to any great extent. 

Under this head will be treated the methods of Dry- 
Washing, Beach-Mining, River or Bar Mining, Ground- 
Sluicing, and Booming. 

Dry-Washing. —Dry-washing was carried on in the 
early days, principally by Mexicans, in those localities 
where water could not be obtained. The Mexican meth¬ 
od consisted in pulverizing selected rich dirt, thoroughly 
drying it, and then working it in a batea. The earthy 
portions, by a circular motion given to the disk, were 
separated from the gold, which remained behind. The 
gold was also extracted by winnowing. Of late years 
various machines have been invented and used from time 
to time, but necessarily their application is limited. 

Beacli-Mining. —In various places along the Pacific 
coast, principally between Cape Mendocino in California 
and the Umpqua River in Oregon, the beach sands have 
been found to contain gold and have been worked to a 
limited extent. The first discovery, which for a time 
caused great excitement, was made in 1850 at Gold Bluff, 
south of the mouth of the Klamath River. 

The gold occurs in a finely divided state, in layers 
(sometimes one or two feet deep) of magnetic iron sand, 
which by the concentrating action of the waves and tide 
is separated from the lighter quartz ’sand. By the wash 
of the water the auriferous layers are sometimes exposed 
and sometimes covered by the non-auriferous material. 

With the gold platinum is found. The fragments of 
the platinum are more compact and less flattened than the 
gold particles, which are of leaf-like form and of nearly 
the same diameter as the magnetic-iron grains, from which 


8o 


DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING. 


they are separated only with difficulty by the present pro¬ 
cess of washing. 

S. B. Christy found that the gold amalgamates easily, 
but that the finer particles, when once allowed to dry, 
seem to become covered with a film of air and to float 
readily on subsequent immersion in water. 

Prof. J. D. Dana considers that these deposits date 
from the close of the Glacial, and partly from the latter 
half of the Champlain period. 

As the tides continually alter the position of the ex¬ 
posed auriferous layers, it is necessary to prospect every 
day for the richest spots, which are generally covered at 
high water. At low tide the miners proceed to the locali¬ 
ties selected, scrape up the thin gold-bearing strata, and 
transport the material to the washing place. The wash¬ 
ing is generally done in sluices, to which are attached 
various gold-saving contrivances. 

It is claimed that much of the sand assays from $10 to 
$30 per ton, and that very large amounts assay from $5 to 
$10, only a part of which, however, is saved. Skidmore 
states that the variable character of the sands prevents 
beach-mining enterprises from being carried on success¬ 
fully for any length of time. 

Bar and River Milling. —In early days river-min¬ 
ing was extensively carried on. The discovery of rich 
bars caused many excitements. It led to the rapid ex¬ 
ploration and settlement of large areas of country, and 
was generally the first step towards opening up the gold¬ 
mining regions. 

The portions of the bars above water-level being soon 
exhausted, the miners’ attention was naturally led to the ex¬ 
ploration of the parts under water. Streams were dammed 
and turned into new channels, often at enormous costs 
and risks. The beds of rivers for considerable distances 
were laid bare while the miner worked his claim. This 
class of mining, apart from the danger arising from floods 
and breaking of dams, had in it a factor of uncertainty— 


DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING. 81 

’ll n dy, the value of the claim, which could only be ascer¬ 
tained alter all the principal expenses had been incurred. 
1 he losses in many instances were very large, but in other 
cases the gains obtained in a short time were so enormous 
as to throw around this class of work a fascination which 
induced many to engage in it. 

1 o obviate the necessity of turning the rivers out of 
their channels dredging machines have been buiit and 
used ; and the plan of sinking shafts on the banks and tun¬ 
nelling (drifting; under the surface of the bed has been sug¬ 
gested. Projects for working the river channels (always 
supposed to contain enormous stores of hidden wealth) 
are still proposed from time to time, but actual operations 
are not common. 

Ground-Sluicing. — Ground-sluicing consists in 
treating the gold bearing gravel, which is excavated by 
pick and shovel, by washing it in trenches cut in the 
bed-rock. It is similar to hydraulic mining, except 
that the water is not used under pressure and often no 
wooden sluices are used below the trenches, the rough 
natural rock serving for riffles. The lighter material is 
removed by means of the water, while the heavier dirt 
remaining behind is collected and worked in rockers. 
This process of gold-washing was carried on by the 
Romans in the early part of the Christian era. 

Booming. —Booming is simply ground-sluicing on a 
large scale, the only difference being that instead of wash¬ 
ing the gravel by means of a continuous stream of water, 
the contents of the entire reservoir are discharged at once 
and all the material which has been collected below it is 
swept into the sluices. The rush of the water carries off 
the boulders and dirt, leaving behind the heavy particles 
of gold and magnetic iron sands, which are collected on 
bed-rock floors. Booming has been extensively practised 
in California, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado. The re¬ 
quirements for this kind of gold-mining are a sufficiently 
large reservoir conveniently situated above the gravel de- 


82 DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING. 

posit, and a dam for storing the water, so arranged that 
flood-gates can quickly discharge the entire contents of 
the reservoir without damage to the dam. 

Pliny, in his “ Natural History,” speaking of gold¬ 
washing, says: “When they have reached the head of 
the fall, at the very brow of the mountain, reservoirs are 
hollowed out a couple of hundred feet in length and 
breadth, some ten feet in depth. In these reservoirs there 
are generally five sluices left, about three feet square, so 
that the moment the reservoir is filled the flood-gates are 
struck away, and the torrent bursts forth with such a 
degree of violence as to roll outward any fragments of 
rock which may obstruct its passage. When they have 
reached the level ground, too, there is still another labor 
that awaits them : trenches, known as ‘ agogas,’ have to 
be dug for the passage of the water, and these, at regu¬ 
lar intervals, have a layer of silex placed at the bottom. 
This silex is a plant like the rosemary in appearance, rough 
and prickly, and well adapted for arresting any pieces of 
gold that may be carried along. The sides, too, are 
closed in with planks, and are supported by arches when 
carried over steep and precipitous spots. The earth, car¬ 
ried onwards by the stream, arrives at the sea at last, and 
thus is the shattered mountain washed away—causes which 
have greatly tended to extend the shores of Spain by 
these encroachments on the deep.” 

DEEP-MINING. 

The two principal methods of Deep-Mining are Drift¬ 
ing and Hydraulicking. 

Drifting. —Gold is often mined in deep deposits by 
means of tunnels and drifts. This is styled drift-mining, 
which, as a rule, is resorted to only in those districts 
where the deposits are covered by an overflow from vol¬ 
canic sources, though in many instances the bottom stra¬ 
tum (sometimes intermediate strata) has been drifted out 
of banks not capped with lava. 


DIFFERENT METHODS OF MiNxNG. 


83 


Drifting presupposes the concentration of the precious 
metal in a well defined stratum or channel. This method 
has been extensively employed in .many parts of Califor¬ 
nia, particularly in Placer, Sierra, and Plumas counties. 

here a pay channel has been found, or is surmised 
to exist, a tunnel is driven to develop it. This tunnel 
must be run in such a manner as to drain all parts of the 
mine, and its location is therefore a matter of the greatest 
importance. Before commencing such a work, which 
may require years for its completion and cost large sums 
of money, every precaution should be taken to ascer¬ 
tain the exact position of the channel. Want of know¬ 
ledge on this point has caused disastrous failures in but 
too many cases. 

As the channel can often be found only by means of 
tunnels, the risk of undertaking drift-mining is apparent. 
In those fortunate instances in which the channel is dis¬ 
closed on the surface and rises as it enters the hill, the 
tunnel is run along its bed, partially in the bed-rock. 
Otherwise the tunnel is driven below the channel or 
through the rim-rock, being located with such a grade 
that the deepest part of the workings will be above it. 

In some claims shafts have been sunk and the gravel 
drifted out has been raised through these shafts to the 
surface. This method is quite common in Australia, but 
comparatively rare in California. 

When a tunnel has been properly located and the 
channel opened, drifts are run through the pay ground 
on both sides and the material is breasted out regular¬ 
ly; timbering being employed as the work may require. 
Shafts must sometimes be raised to the surface for the 
sake of ventilation. 

The gravel is removed through the tunnel by means 
of a tramway and carried to the mouth, where it is 
dumped on floors and then washed in the sluices. When 
too firmly cemented to be broken up by sluicing, the 
gravel is crushed under stamps. 


8 4 


DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING. 


One of the most noted drift-mines in the State is the 
Bald Mountain, Sierra County, where there is every fa¬ 
cility for economical working - . There steam locomotives 
are used for transporting men and material through 
the tunnel, which is over one and one-fourth miles 
long. 

The following sketches of the workings of the Sunny 
South Mine, in Placer County, will give a general idea of 
the method of drift-mining. At this place the main tun¬ 
nel is below the channel, allowing the mine to be opened 
and worked in a very convenient manner. 

Drifting .was at one time the most extensively used 
method of deep mining, and through it a very large 
amount of information has been obtained as to the nature 
of the ancient river channels. 

Hydraulic Milling. —Hydraulic mining is that meth¬ 
od of gold-mining in which the ground is excavated by 
means of water discharged against it under pressure (hy- 
draulicked). 

The term in its limited sense, as generally applied, pre¬ 
supposes the existence of, ist, water, in sufficient quan¬ 
tity, which can be used under pressure for mining ; 2d, 
gravel deposits containing gold which can be worked pro¬ 
fitably by the application of water in the manner above 
mentioned. 

Origin in California. — The application of the 
science of hydraulics to the mining of auriferous gra¬ 
vels originated in California. The pressing necessity of 
a more economical process of gold-washing became evi¬ 
dent as the rich surface deposits were exhausted, and led 
to the adoption of this method, which was favored by the 
topography of the country. 

Hydraulic vs. Drift Mining. —Deep placers, if suffi¬ 
ciently rich, can be, and for various reasons generally are, 
worked by drifting. But the results of actual practice 
in Nevada County and elsewhere demonstrate that hy¬ 
draulic mining, compared with drifting, employs twice 


DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING. 85 





IT is-1 C 






















































































































86 


DIFFERENT METHODS OF MINING. 


the number of men and extracts four to six times the 
amount of gold per lineal foot of channel. 

The yield of the North Bloomfield channel by drifting 
has been $150 per lineal foot of channel, while hydraulick- 
ing the entire deposit in this locality has given a yield of 
$750 per foot. 

Requirements for Financial Success. —From a 
financial point of view it is essential for profitable hy¬ 
draulic mining that there should be ample facilities for 
grade and dump and a sufficient head and an abundant 
supply of cheap water, all of which requirements vary in 
importance inversely with the richness and extent of the 
gravel. Economical management may be considered in 
all classes of mining a sine qua non to success; but it is 
especially requisite here, as the value of this method is 
based on the great facility with which profitable results 
can be obtained at trifling cost from expeditiously and 
skilfully washing vast areas of ground which contain rela¬ 
tively insignificant amounts of precious metal. 

Strictly speaking, in hydraulic mining, water does all 
the work, but in the application of this process to the 
washing of cemented gravel and masses of volcanic pro¬ 
ducts, it has been found that water alone has little effect 
on banks composed of such material, and to overcome 
this difficulty recourse is had to blasting in order to 
shatter the bank before water can be advantageously em¬ 
ploy ed. 


CHAPTER VII. 


PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS. 

In the investigation of all hydraulic-mining enterprises 
the first problem which presents itself to the engineer is 
the ascertaining of the value of the gravel deposits. This 
involves the determining of the course of the channel; 
the depth and position of the bed-rock, generally covered 
by hundreds of feet of detritus; the available area for 
washing; and the estimates of the yield of the ground, 
with the calculations of the cost of the work. Accurate 
information on these points is necessary. But without 
the assistance of underground explorations few of them 
can be definitely determined. A study of the geology 
and topography of the deposit and of its surroundings 
aids in determining the course of the channel, the depth 
of the bed-rock, and the facilities for dump. The value 
of the gravel can be approximated by sinking small pits, 
washing the material obtained from them and from such 
other places as good judgment dictates. 

Where the prosecution of an enterprise involves the 
expenditure of large sums, it is advisable to thoroughly 
explore the ground by means of prospecting shafts and 
drifts. Should the results of this work warrant the opin¬ 
ion that the ground would pay to hydraulic, then the 
water-supply and the facilities for dump should be accu¬ 
rately determined, with close estimates of the costs. 

Indications. —The colors red and blue, with their 
varying shades, as seen in gravel deposits, are generally 
considered by miners to be good indications of gold in the 
different localities. While it is true that these different 
colored sands often accompany gold, it by no means fol¬ 
lows that gold always accompanies them. 

Ferruginous colored spots, so well marked in “ upper 

or top gravel,” are not, as a rule, so productive of gold in 

£7 


88 


PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS. 


California as they are generally found to be in the Ural 
Mountains. 

A black sand, composed chiefly of glancing grains of 
magnetic iron, generally accompanies the precious metal, 
though it occurs also without it. 

Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, speaking of the impressions which 
prevail in reference to the presence of black sand in auri¬ 
ferous alluvions, very appropriately remarks that “similar 
black sand residues, consisting chiefly of various ores of 
iron (sometimes oxide of tin and other minerals), may be 
obtained from the washing of almost all sands and gra- 
vels derived from crystalline rocks, and the occurrence of a 
black sand, therefore, in no way indicates the presence of 
gold. When, however, this metal is present in gravel, 
it, from its great weight, remains behind with the black 
sand and dense matters in the residue after washing.” * 

Explorations at Malakoff. —The explorations of 
the North Bloomfield Company furnish a remarkable 
instance of the extent to which preliminary work has 
been successfully carried on. To determine the value of 
their claims and the feasibility of working them, four 
prospect shafts were sunk to ascertain the value of the 
gravel, the position of the channel, and the depth to the 
bed-rock. No. i shaft struck the bed-rock of the main 
channel at a depth of two hundred and seven feet, one 
hundred and thirtv-five feet of which was in blue gra- 
vel averaging 41 cents per cubic yard. Drifts were 
driven from the bottom of this shaft a distance of twelve 
hundred feet on the course of the channel, the width of 
which was estimated at five hundred feet. The ag¬ 
gregate length of the channel explorations was over two 
thousand feet. The samples of the various drifts indicat¬ 
ed a value of $2.01 per cubic yard. The actual yield of 
21,614 tcms of gravel extracted from these drifts was $33,- 
053.69, or $1.53 per ton, or about $275 per cubic yard. 

The gross cost of the entire prospecting work, includ¬ 
ing the four shafts, was $63,956.20. 


* “ Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress, 1863-66,” p. 36. 




PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS. 


89 


SECTION OF SHAFT NO. 1. 

MALAKOFF 

NORTH BLOOMFIELD GRAVEL MINING CO. 


Color found In most every pan 
in this top gravel. 


Blue Gravel: from top down for 50 feet, 
averaged about 10 colors to the pan. 


Streaks of Clay through 
Gravel, thickest 8 inches. 



130 : 

Figures within the Shaft 
indicate the number of 
colors to the pan, every testliO- 
made from 120 down is 
here recorded. 

150 


Gold very fine until green gravel was strucK. 


Much quartz. 

Pipe clay disappeared. 

Here appeared a little Cement. 


Gravel coarser, some Cement. 

Gold coarser since striking green Gravel. 


Fig. 2. 















CHAPTER VIII. 


RESERVOIRS AND DAMS, 

STORAGE RESERVOIRS. 

Sources of Water-Supply. —Running streams, melt¬ 
ing snows and rains are the sources from which the min¬ 
ing districts derive their water-supply. The altitudes of 
the gravel deposits, two hundred to fifty-five hundred 
feet above the sea-level, necessitate the bringing of the 
water from still greater elevations nearer the sources of 
the streams. The supply from these streams is not always 
sufficient. Towards the end of winter and during the 
spring months, while the mountains are still covered with 
deep snow, rains and temperate weather cause sudden 
and rapid thawing, and enormous volumes of water are 
then discharged from the many water-sheds on the west 
flank of the Sierra Nevada into the Great Valley of Cali¬ 
fornia, and freshets are of quite common occurrence. To 
make this supply of water available, storage reservoirs 
have been constructed by some of the large hydraulic- 
mining companies. 

The dry season in California is from May to Novem¬ 
ber, but the streams do not run dry until the middle of 
June or July. 

Requirements for Sites. —The principal storage 
reservoirs in the State are situated at elevations of five 
thousand to seven thousand feet above the sea-level. The 
location of a proper site for a storage reservoir is of para¬ 
mount importance. In selecting a site especial attention 
must be paid to the following points: 

(i) A proper elevation. 

90 


0 



RESERVOIRS. 


9 1 


(2) The water-supply from all creeks and springs, and 
the catchment area. 

(3) The amount of rain and snowfall. 

(4) The formation and character of the ground, with 
especial reference to the amount of absorption and eva¬ 
poration. 

All of these points must be thoroughly investigated and 
determined. It is supposed that the catchment area has 
been ascertained, and that it is sufficiently large for its 
minimum discharge to supply all requirements. 

Elevation. —The elevation of a reservoir depends 
upon the location of the mines and the altitude and ex¬ 
tent of the country which it is proposed to cover with the 
ditch. The reservoir should be located below the snow 
belt wherever possible, and so situated as to obtain the 
largest water-supply from the catchment area. 

Streams. —All the streams should be gauged carefully 
to determine the minimum and the average supply. 

Rainfall. —In new and unexplored localities the wa¬ 
ter-supply due to rainfall can be determined only by ac¬ 
tual measurement. It cannot be too earnestly impressed 
upon the engineer that for all such information he must 
depend on his own observations, which in some cases may 
require a prolonged stay of a season or more in the field. 
Under any circumstances rainfall data cannot be relied 
upon, unless based on many decades of observation. 

The rainfall is always greater in mountain districts 
than in the lowlands. It is greatest on the slopes facing 
the direction from which the moist winds blow. Definite 
data of the rainfall of any catchment area can be obtained 
only by establishing rain gauges at different points, where 
the observations should be made daily during the seasdn. 

Snowfall. —The measurement of the snowfall must 
be taken on a level, and a given amount of snow reduced 
to water and calculated for rain. 

Absorption and Evaporation. — In reference to 
the ground, the most desirable formation is that of com- 


92 


RESERVOIRS. 


pact rocks, like granite, gneiss, or slates. Localities where 
the formation consists of porous rocks, sandstones or 
limestones, are not desirable on account of the great loss 
from absorption. 

Steep and denuded slopes are always the best, as but 
little water will escape. The greatest slope will give the 
largest available quantity of water. The configuration 
of the ground influences and affects evaporation, and 
vegetation causes a large amount of absorption. The 
losses due to absorption and evaporation are reduced to a 
minimum where the site of a reservoir is in a compact 
formation with steep sides, and the surface area is conse¬ 
quently small. Evaporation varies with the season of the 
year and the weather (being most active in summer), while 
percolation, depending on the soil, varies from year to 
year. Percolation is greatest during melting of snows, 
and especially when a thaw follows small falls of snow. 
From reliable experiments made in France and England, 
the ratio of evaporation to rainfall was determined (1839 
to 1852) in the former to have been 76.57 per cent., and in 
the latter, subsequently, 77.27 per cent.* 

Finally, it must be added that the rule for estimating 
the total quantity available for storage varies in different 
districts. In some localities two-thirds of the total amount 
is estimated to be serviceable, and in others one-third. 
At the Bowman reservoir 75 per cent, of the total rainfall 
and snowfall, reduced to rain, is stored. 

Reservoir Gauge. —In the construction of reservoirs 
the location selected must be sufficiently large to hold 
a supply necessary to meet a maximum demand. The 
exact area of the reservoir should be determined, and a 
table showing its contents for every foot of depth made, so 
that, from an inspection of the gauge and reference to the 
table, the amount of water available for service can always 
be known. A longitudinal section through the centre of 
the reservoir, with cross-sections and contour lines, five 


* Harcourt, “ Rivers and Canals,” p. 3. 


RESERVOIRS. 


93 


feet above each other vertically, will enable the engineer 
to determine the height of the dam and to ascertain the 
contents of the reservoir with the water at any depth. 

Reservoir Statistics. —On the head-waters of one 
of the branches of the Yuba River in Nevada County, 
at an elevation of fifty-three hundred feet above sea-level, 
the North Bloomfield Company has established a com¬ 
plete system of reservoirs for the storage of water. Their 
Bowman reservoir and the small ones above it contain 
about 1,050,000,000 cubic feet of water. The catchment 
area is 28.94 square miles. The cost of the reservoirs and 
dams to date is $246,707.51, including the cost of distribut¬ 
ing reservoirs. 

The Rudyard or English reservoir of the Milton Com¬ 
pany since its enlargement contains 650,000,000 cubic feet 
of water, having a high-water area of 395 acres, fed from 
a catchment basin of 12.1 square miles. The reservoir is 
formed by three dams. The back wall of the centre dam 
has a vertical height of one hundred and thirty-one feet. 
The walls are of dry rubble stone covering a solidly 
filled timber crib. The total cost of the reservoir to 
date is $155,000. 

The storage reservoirs of the Eureka Lake and Yuba 
Canal Company consist of the French reservoir, 661,000,- 
000 cubic feet capacity, area 337.32 acres; Weaver Lake 
reservoir, 100,000,000 cubic feet capacity; and Faucherie 
reservoir, 58,800,000 cubic feet capacity, high-water area 
90 acres; having, therefore, an aggregate capacity of 
819,800,000 cubic feet of water.* The catchment basins 
of most of these reservoirs are in a rugged, mountainous 
region, and in ordinary seasons 60 to 80 per cent, of the 
rain and snow fall flows into the reservoirs. 

Distributing Reservoirs. —Independent of these 
reservoirs, all mines, at convenient distances from their 
works, have what are called distributing reservoirs, which 
receive the water from the main ditch for delivery to the 

* See report of J. D. Hague, M.E., pp. 15, 16, and 17. 


94 


RESERVOIRS. 


individual claims. These reservoirs are usually small, 
containing only sufficient water for a few hours’ or a few 
days’ run. 

The principal distributing reservoirs in the mining dis¬ 
tricts of California are : 


Waldron, N. Bloomfield Mining Co. 5,352,000 cubic feet. 

Marlow. N. Bloomfield Mining Co. ... 1,734,000 cubic feet. 

Pine Grove, Milton Mining Co . 11,150,000 cubic feet. 

Empire, Milton Mining Co. 2,230,000 cubic feet. 

Excelsior No. 1, Excelsior Mining Co . 15,610,000 cubic feet. 

Excelsior No. 2, Excelsior Mining Co.... . 6,690,000 cubic feet. 


DAMS. 

Dams arc required for the purpose of impounding 
water in reservoirs, for diverting it from streams, or for 
storing: in the canons or elsewhere the debris coming: 
from the mines. 

Foundation. — The first object sought in selecting a 
site is a foundation sufficiently solid and impervious to 
prevent settling of the dam, leakage under its base, and 
wear in front by water running over its top. Where pos¬ 
sible the entire foundation should be in solid rock. 

A hard, level, compact rock always affords the best 
foundation, but where that cannot be obtained any thick, 
impermeable stratum strong enough to sustain the pres¬ 
sure will suffice. Gravel soil is better than earth, but re¬ 
quires sheet piling to prevent sipage beneath the base of 
the dam. No reliance can be placed on vegetable soil. 
In India, where it is impracticable to go down to the 
bed-rock, stone wells filled with concrete and connected 
by rows of piles have been used. 

In preparing the foundation the soil and all porous 
material, sand and gravel, is stripped off, and \yhen the 
solid ground is reached it should be carefully and thor¬ 
oughly tested by shafts or borings. Where the rock is fis¬ 
sured all loose material should be removed ; some engineers 
recommend covering the foundation with a layer of pud- 








RESERVOIRS. 


95 


TABLE II. 


RESERVOIRS 

on the Yuba, Bear, Feather, and American Rivers, constructed for 

mining purposes. 


Name. 

Owner. 

Capacity in cubic 
feet. 

Bowman . 

North Bloomfield Co .. . 

930,000,000 

Shot Gini Lake . 

a i. u 

• • 

3 > 423 , 8 l 6 

Island Lake . 

it U << 

2 3 * 02 7 , 55 8 

Middle Lake . 

<( a t< 

• • 

2 , 395 * 800 

Round Lake . 

a a il 

2,907,63° 

Weaver Lake . 

Eureka Lake Co . 

150,000,000 

661,000,000 

Eu reka Lake . 

U il il 

Faucherie . 

li U il 

58,800,000 

15,000,000 

50,000,000 

650,000,000 

I *° 75 * 5 2 5 >°°° 

107.950,000 

53 * 975 *°°° 

Jackson Lake . 

Smaller T.n.kps . 

a li a 

a n a 

English . 

Milton Co . 

Fordxce .. 

South Yuba Co . 

ATpndmo T.al'P . . . 

a a a 

S\tfr]jncr . 

a a a 



Omega and Blue Tent.. 

Blue Tent Co. 

300,000,000 

C'a 1 ifnrnia .. 

California Co. 

600,000,000 

1,070,000,000 

700,000,000 

6,454,004,804 

TT.l Dnrarln. 


Smaller reservoirs on the 
Feather, Yuba, and 
American rivers. 

Th\f- il ctnrnrrf 1 .. 



• 


j^ote. _The capacities of the reservoirs whose names are given in italic s are derived from 

official sources. The capacities of the other reservoirs are given on the authority of Hamdton 
Smith, Jr. 








































q6 


DAMS. 


die rammed solidly, which is torn off afterwards, bringing 
with it all the loose pieces of rock. 

Where a hard-pan bottom is used great care should be 
taken not to crack it. Fanning recommends in such cases 
that the soil should be carefully removed down to the im¬ 
pervious stratum, on which a puddle of well rammed clay, 
rolled with not less than a two-ton weight, should be 
placed, and a puddle wall built. He also suggests the 
covering of the ground in front with a layer of gravel 
and clay, and at the toe of the inside face of the dam 
sheet piling should be driven through the hard-pan to 
prevent any leakage under the base of the structure, 
which must be water-tight and have a strong apron 
placed in front of it to prevent the water from scouring 
the bed. 

Wooden Dams.—On light soil, where there is dan¬ 
ger of undermining from the overflow, wooden dams can 
be built in step form (i vertical to 3 or 4 horizontal) 
and provided with aprons; sometimes the aprons are 
inclined towards the dam, against which their lower ends 
abut, while at the further end sheet piling is driven 
and the bed around it protected with rip-rap. The same 
object is accomplished likewise by two dams erected a 
short distance apart, the lower one forming a pool or 
water-cushion for the discharge from the upper one. 

There are various forms of wooden dams. They are 
generally constructed of round logs or hewn timber one 
to two feet in diameter, laid on each other so as to form 
in plan a series of cribs from eight to ten feet square, 
and pinned together by wooden treenails. In the bet¬ 
ter class of crib-work the timbers are notched and bolted 
to each other at each intersection with iron drift bolts, 
the round logs being flattened or notched where they lie 
upon each other. The bottom timbers are bolted to the 
bed-rock, the ties are notched and bolted to the stringers, 
and the cribs are filled with rock. The face of the dam 
is made water-tight by an outer skin of plank spiked to 


DAMS. 97 

the face ribs. These planks are fitted with an outgauge 
or battened or otherwise calked. 

Abutments. —Where abutments are used they should 
be constructed so as not to contract the width of the 
stream. They must be securely connected to the ends of 
the dam, and, if possible, carried so far inland that high 
water cannot sweep around them ; they must be sunk 
deep and protected from all action of the water, and the 
ends adjacent to the dam should be rounded. They are 
constructed of stone or cement, or are built of timber cribs. 

Masonry Dams.— Hydraulic mining from its nature 
does not justify the expense of masonry dams, unless 
perhaps the reservoirs are designed also for other and 
more permanent uses. The subject of the construction 
of masonry dams has been thoroughly investigated by 
engineers. The annexed profile (Fig. 3), the bounding 
lines of which are logarithmic curves, has been calculated 
by Prof. Rankine to serve as a type for masonry dams of 
any practicable height. “It presents many strong points 
not found in the usual rectilinear profile, and deserves 
especial consideration.” 

The most desirable form of profile for masonry dams 
is the one which combines the greatest strength with the 
least amount of material. To determine this it is nec¬ 
essary to know the forces to which the proposed dam 
is to be subjected, whether constant or variable, and 
the effects they are likely to produce. The conditions of 
stability (that the dam may sustain its own weight and 
withstand both its own weight and the pressure of the 
water) are then considered, and the profile adopted which, 
combines the greatest strength and stability with economy 
of material. 

The weight of the material composing the structure, 
and the pressure or thrust of the water which it holds, 
are the only forces which may be regarded as acting 
with vigor on a dam. The former is constant; the latter 
depends on the height of the water behind the dam, and 


r gS 


DAMS. 


is consequently variable. The thrust at any point acts 
normally to the immersed surface, and is not uniformly 
distributed over the entire face, being zero at the water¬ 
line and greatest at the foot of the dam. 



Fig. 3. Section of Dam. Proposed by W. J. M. Rankine, Esq. 

A dam may yield by sliding on its base or at any hori¬ 
zontal joint, or by rotation about the toe. 

In masonry dams the weight of the dam acting verti¬ 
cally, and the pressure of the water acting in directions 
normal to the surface immersed, are the two components 
of a resultant, and stability will be secured when this 





























DAMS. 


99 


resultant pierces the base or any horizontal joint within 
certain defined limits. If the line of the resultant inter¬ 
sects any horizontal plane of the dam outside of these 
limits, stability is not assured. 

The following- conditions are indispensable for the 
stability of dams: 

1 st. The courses of masonry must be incapable of 
slipping one over the other, and the wall incapable of 
sliding on its base. 

2d. Neither the material employed nor the foundation 
must be required to bear too great a pressure. 

The stones must not be laid in horizontal courses ex¬ 
tending from front to rear, and binders should be freely 
used. The stability of all dams (or walls sustaining pres¬ 
sure) requires that there should be no continuous joints. 

Earthen Dams. —For reservoirs of moderate depth 
earthen dams are frequently used. Experience sanctions 
for these dimensions not less than ten feet on top, and a 
height of over sixty feet is considered risky by many 
engineers. Trautwine suggests that in properly con¬ 
structed earthen dams “the top width should be equal to 
two feet plus twice the square root of the height in feet.” 
The inner slope should be 2]/ 2 (base) to i (height), and 
the outer slope 1 % to 1. Flat inner slopes are most 
desirable, as they increase the stability of the structure 
and likewise prevent displacement of the pitching. In 
some instances the toes of the slopes abut against retain¬ 
ing walls in cement. The inner slopes should be care¬ 
fully faced.up to the top with dry rubble-stone pitching at 
least one and one-half feet deep. 

The Pillarcitos reservoir, San Mateo County, has an 
earthen dam six hundred and forty feet long, twenty-six 
feet wide on top, and ninety-five feet high. The San 
Andreas dam is six hundred and forty feet long, twenty- 
five feet wide on top, and ninety-five feet high. The 
former has a slope of 2 3 ^ (base) to 1 (height) on the inner, 
and 2^ to 1 on the outer side. In the latter the inner 


IOO 


DAMS. 


slope is 3)4 to i, and the outer slope is 3 to 1. In both 
cases the puddle walls have been carried down respec¬ 
tively forty-six and forty-seven feet deeper than the base. 

The materials selected for the embankment play a 
very important part. The best combination consists of 
gravel, sharp sand, and clay, properly proportioned, 
which give weight, cohesiveness, stability, and imper¬ 
viousness.* The weight of the wall must be opposed to 
the thrust, the height and length are determined quan¬ 
tities, and the thickness is the only remaining factor for 
adjustment. 

Puddle Walls. —Engineers differ in opinion as to the 
value of puddle walls. They are designed to prevent 
leakage through or beneath the embankment and reach 
from the top to below the base. They should be from 
six to eight feet thick on top, increasing downwards by 
offsets at the rate of about one foot for every three or 
four in depth. 

Where the embankment is composed of loose material 
and the water comes in contact with the clay puddle, it is 
advisable to enclose the puddle in concrete, or a water¬ 
tight wall should intervene between the puddle and the 
reservoir. 

A properly constructed embankment, with the inner 
slope and the bottom of the reservoir, especially near the 
toe, securely protected by means of puddle, concrete, or 
stone facing laid in cement, is considered by some en¬ 
gineers preferable to a puddle wall in the centre of the 
dam. 

Shrinkage of Embankments.— The following are 
the approximate averages of the shrinkage of embank¬ 
ments according to Trautwine (1882, p. 630): 


Gravel or sand.8 per cent. 

Clay.io per cent. 

L°am.. per cent. 

Loose vegetable surface soil.15 per cent. 

Puddle clay.20 per cent. 


* See Fanning, “ Water-Supply Engineering,” pp. 339-342. 







DAMS. 


ior 

Trautwine determined that one cubic yard of hard 
rock made on an average 1.7 cubic yards of embankment, 
or that one cubic yard of rock embankment required 
0.5882 of a cubic yard in place. Also that a solid cubic 
y ai d when broken into fragments made 1.9 cubic yards of 
loose heap, if yards carelessly piled, 1.6 cubic yards 
carefully piled, 1.5 cubic yards very carelessly scabbled, 
or if cubic yards somewhat carefully scabbled. 

Dams in California. —Among the most important 
dams built in California are : the Bowman dam, height 
one bundled feet, length four hundred and twenty-five 



Fig. 4. Dry-stone Dam. 


feet; three dams owned by the Milton Mining and Water 
Company, forming the English reservoir, the largest of 
these having a height of one hundred and thirty-one feet; 
the Fordyce, of the South Yuba Canal Company, five hun¬ 
dred and sixty-seven feet long and seventy-five feet high, 
catchment basin about forty square miles ; the Eureka 
Lake dam of the Eureka Lake and Yuba Canal Company, 
length two hundred and fifty feet, height sixty-eight feet. 





































































































































































































102 


DAMS. 


TABLE III. 


Angles of Repose and Friction of Embankment Materials* 


Material. 

Angle of 
Repose. 

Coefficient 
of Friction. 

Ratio of Slope. 

Dry sand, fine. 

28° 

•532 

Hor. Vert. 

1.88 to 1 

coarse. 

3°° 

•577 

i -73 “ 1 

Damp clay. 

45 ° 

1.000 

1.00 “ 1 

Wet clay. 

* 5 ° 

.2 68 

3-73 “ 1 

Clayey gravel. 

45 ° 

1.000 

i.00 “ 1 

Shingle. 

42 ° 

.900 

i.ii “ 1 

Gravel. .. 

38° 

.781 

1.28 “ 1 

Firm loam. 

36 ° 

•727 

1.38 “ 1 

Vegetable soil. 

35 ° 

.700 

i -43 “ 1 

Peat. 

0 

20 

•364 

2-75 “ 1 

Masonry on clayey gravel.. .. 

3 °° 

■577 

T. 73 “ I 

“ “ dry clay. 

27 ° 

• 5 IQ 

I.96 “ I 

“ moist clay. 

18° 

• 3 2 5 

3-°8 “ 1 

Earth on moist clay. 

45 ° 

I. OOO 

1.00 “ 1 

“ wet clay. 

if 

.306 

3.26 “ 1 


* See “Treatise on Water-Supply Engineering,” by J. T. Fanning, p. 345. 

























DAMS. 


103 


All the foregoing dams are built of dry rubble stone 
and faced with a water-tight lining of planks. 

The Tuolumne County Water Company has built seve¬ 
ral timber crib dams, the largest of which is across the 
south fork of the Stanislaus River. This dam, which is 
three hundred feet long and sixty feet high, rests for its en¬ 
tire base on solid granite bed-rock. The cribs, construct¬ 
ed of round tamarack logs from two to three feet in di¬ 
ameter, are about eight feet square from log to log (ten 
feet centre to centre), and the timbers are pinned together 
with wooden treenails. The cribs have no rock filling. 

The face is formed of flattened three-inch timber pinned 
with wooden treenails to the crib and calked with cedar 
bark. The flood water passes over the crest of the dam 
for the entire length. The water is drawn off by several 
gates, one above the other, placed on the inclined water- 
face. The dam was built in 1856. Its total cost did not 
exceed $40,000. Pine dams owned by this company, con¬ 
structed on the same plan, have decayed, while cedar cribs 
are still in perfect order. The Spring Valley and Che¬ 
rokee Company’s Concow reservoir in Butte County is 
formed by two earthen dams, each about fifty-five feet in 
height; one of these, which is used as a waste, has its lower 
side built of heavy brush embedded in the earth. 

TIIE BOWMAN RESERVOIR AND DAM. 

This reservoir was designed for the supply of water 
during the dry season of the year to the gravel mines ope¬ 
rated by the North Bloomfield Mining Company. It is 
located in a mountain valley, on Big Canon Creek, a 
branch of the Yuba River. 

It is fed from a gross catchment area of 28.94 square 
miles. Higher up on the same stream there are several 
other reservoirs owned by the Bloomfield and Eureka Lake 
companies, the upper one (Eureka Lake reservoir) hold¬ 
ing 661,000,000 cubic feet of water. In ordinary seasons 


104 


DAMS. 


TABLE IV. 

Some of the Principal Dams in Califor 7 iia. 


Name. 

Owner. 

High-Water 

Area. 

Top Height. 

Top Length. 

Bowman. 

North Bloom¬ 
field Co. 

Acres. 

500 

Feet. 

IOO 

Feet 

425 

Saw Mill Flat. 

North Bloom¬ 
field Co. 

O 

00 

39 * 

• • 

Shot Gun Lake 

North Bloom¬ 
field Co. 

26* 

10 

• • 

Island “ 

North Bloom¬ 
field Co. 

48 t 8 o 

12* 

• • 

Middle 

North Bloom¬ 
field Co. 

nfj 

12 

• • 

Crooked “ 

North Bloom¬ 
field Co. 

IO T 0 

3 

• • 

Round 

North Bloom¬ 
field Co. 

8 * 

11 


Fall Creek.. . 

North Bloom¬ 
field Co. 




English . 

Milton M. Co. . 

395 

131 

331 

Milton Dam. . 

Milton M. Co.. 

10 

5 

# # 

Eureka Lake. 

Eureka Lake 

Co. 

337 io 

68 * 

25O 

Jackson 

Eureka Lake 

Co. 

20 

5 


Faucherie “ 

Eureka Lake 

Co. 

90 

21 


Weaver 

Eureka Lake 

Co. 

S 3 t 5 o 

2It 8 0 


Meadow “ 

South Yuba Co. 

262 

28 

500 

Fordyce (en¬ 
larged). ... 

South Yuba Co. 

1200 

75 

650 

Sterling. 

South Yuba Co. 

• • • • 

30 

300 

Tuolumne.... 

Tuolumne Co. . 

• • • • 

60 

-^00 

Pillarcitos. ... 

Spring Valley 
Water Co.... 

• • • • 

95 

640 

San Andreas.. 

Spring Valley 
Water Co.... 

• • • • 

93 

640 


Barometrical 

Elevation. 

l 

i* 

0 

+-> 

cS 

U 

Feet . 

A cres 

5,450 

12 O93 

5,780 

• • • • 

6,410 

» • * • 

6,6go 

• • • • 

6,460 

l « » » 

6,510 

• • • • 

6,590 

• • • • 

6,690 
6,140 
5 ,b 7 o 

7-745 

17,637 

6,480 

3,170 

5 , 4 TO 


6,060 

3 262 

7,040 

• • • • 

7,000 

7,200 

8,000 

• • • 

• • • • 

• • • • 

• • • • 

696 

• • • • 

455 

• • • • 


m 

O 

U 


$151,521 

c w 
o .£ 

-o > 

C (fl 
oj cu 

c- 

X "tJ 
O G 
rf 

C t/) 

r— 

c c • 

£ -a o 
ci aj 0 

'— <« vO 
OJ 84 

0-5 w 

O -G t/i 

^ cz 

. H 

$155,000* 


35.ooo 


8,000 


40,000 


* Includes cost of the three dams, which form the reservoir. The height and length 
given are for the main structure. 














































DAMS. 


105 


these upper reservoirs retain all the water flowing- into 
them, reducing the catchment basin of the Bowman to 
about nineteen square miles. 

The mean annual rain and snowfall at the Bowman 
dam is about seventy-five inches, of which seventy-five per 
cent, flows into the reservoir. 

Two dams are needed to impound the water. The 
main one, placed across the narrow gorge forming the 
outlet of the valley, has a maximum height of one hundred 
feet (96.25 feet above the datum base line) and an extreme 
length on top of four hundred and twenty-five feet, and is 
the largest on the coast. 

The smaller dam, placed across a gap near the mouth 
of the valley, has a maximum height of fifty-four feet and 
an extreme length on top of two hundred and ten feet. It 
is fitted with waste-ways, and over it is discharged all the 
surplus water from the reservoir. 

High-water mark is fixed at a point one and one-half 
feet below the summit of the main dam ; at this height the 
reservoir contains 918,000,000 cubic feet of water with a 
surface area of over 500 acres. By placing temporary flush 
boards on the top of the waste dam the water is raised to 
the ninety-six feet line (above datum base), increasing the 
quantity of water stored to 930,000,000 cubic feet. 

The stream feeding the reservoir has a maximum flow 
during great freshets of 5,000 to 7,000 cubic feet of water 
per second. The existence of other reservoirs higher up 
the stream adds to the danger from great floods, and there¬ 
fore the Bowman dams have been designed to withstand 
not only freshets in the canons, but also any additional in¬ 
flux of water caused by the breaking of the upper dams. 

Main Dam. —Figure 5 A shows a profile across the 
canon, being a longitudinal section through the dam. 
Figure 5 B gives a cross section at its extreme height. 

It rests on solid granite bed-rock, which is sufficient¬ 
ly free from seams to prevent any considerable leakage 
through crevices in the rock. 

o 


io6 


DAMS. 


The dam was built in 1872 to the height of seventy-two 
feet, as shown by the sketch, being a timber crib formed 
of unhewn cedar and tamarack logs, notched and firmly 
bolted together, and solidly filled with loose stones of 
small size. A skin of pine planking, spiked to the water- 
face, forms a water-tight lining. During the years 1875 
and 1876 the dam was increased to the height of ninety- 
six and one-fourth feet above datum line (one hundred 
feet extreme height) by filling in a stone embankment on 
the lower side of the old structure, faced with heavy walls 

A 

Section across Canon 

through main dam. 



Fig. 5A. The Bowman Main Dam. 


of dry rubble stone of large size. The down-stream face 
wall is fifteen to eighteen feet thick at the bottom, dimin¬ 
ishing to six or eight feet at the top. Most of the face 
stones in this wall are of good size, weighing from three- 
fourths to four and one-half tons, and there are many of 
equal weight in the backing. 

The lower portion of the wall is seventeen and one-half 
feet high, with a batter of fifteen per cent. It is built of 
heavy stone, with ranged horizontal beds and with the 
face stone tied to the backing by long iron ties. 

The upper portion of the wall is built with a slope of 
forty-five degrees, and the face stones are bedded on an 
angle of twenty-two and one-half degrees, thus dividing 

































DAMS. 


107 


the angle between 
angles to the face. 


a horizontal bed and a bed at right 
No attempt at range work was made 



in this upper portion of the wall. Above the sixty-eight 
feet line ribs of flattened cedar, eight inches thick, are built 
into the up-stream face wall and are tied to it by iron rods 

























































































































io8 


DAMS. 


three-fourths inch in diameter and five feet long. On 
these ribs a planked skin is firmly spiked. This planking 
is of heart sugar pine, three inches thick and eight inches 
wide, with planed edges fitted with an outgauge, similar 
to ship planking. The plank was put on nearly thorough¬ 
ly seasoned, and swells sufficiently to make the face 
practically water-tight without battening or calking the 
joints. The openings at the joints made by the outgauge 
suck in small particles of vegetable matter, which take the 
place of calking to a great extent. At the bottom the 
plank is fitted to a firm bed-rock and calked with pine 
wedges. There are three thicknesses (nine inches) on 
the lower twenty-five feet, two thicknesses (six inches) on 
the next thirty-five feet, and one thickness on the upper 
thirty-six feet. 

From past experience it is believed that the plank¬ 
ing will remain sufficiently sound for twenty years at 
least. 

A culvert extends through the dam, as shown by 
Fig. 5 B, through which the water is drawn from the 
reservoir. This culvert is built with heavy dry-rubble 
foundation and walls, and is covered with granite slabs 
sixteen to eighteen inches thick and six and one-third feet 
long. 

Three wrought-iron pipes of No. 12 iron, each eight¬ 
een inches in diameter, pass through the water-face of the 
dam. Their upper mouths are protected by a strainer, 
formed of two-inch plank, anchored to the bed-rock. A 
separate valve or gate is placed at the lower end of each 
pipe; the water passing through the gates, aggregating a 
flow of 280 cubic feet per second when the three are open, 
discharges into a covered timber sluice, seven and one- 
half feet wide by one and three-fourths feet high, passing 
to the lower edge of the dam, and thence on to the solid 
rock of the creek bed. The gates are approached by a 
walk way above the sluice. The crest of the dam is 
formed by a coping of hewn heart-cedar timber, eight- 


DAMS. 


I09 


een inches wide on top, securely anchored by iron bolts 
to the stone wall. 

It is not probable that any water will ever pass over 
the crest of the main dam, except in case of a break at 
the large reservoir higher up the stream. Great care 
was taken in building the down-stream face wall of the 
dam for any such possible emergency. Should this hap¬ 
pen a large quantity of water would enter the structure, 
owing to the inclined beds of the face stone and the flat 
slope of the wall, which water would seek its discharge 
through the interstices purposely left in the nearly verti¬ 
cal portion of the lower wall. To prevent the consequent 
hydrostatic pressure, which would accumulate at the base 
of the dam to perhaps twenty pounds to the square inch, 
from forcing out the lower face, the wall was carefully 
built and tied with iron rods. 

There are 55,000 cubic yards of material in this struc¬ 
ture, weighing about 85,000 tons ; the hydrostatic pres¬ 
sure, with the water-line ninety-five feet above datum, 
against a vertical plane of that height across the canon 
at the dam site will be 21,745 tons. The dam is built V- 
shaped, with the vertex of the angle of 165° pointing up 
stream. This mode of construction adds somewhat to 
the stability of the structure. The cost was $151,521.44. 
The rather peculiar construction of this dam was due to 
the following causes : 

The stone cliffs in the vicinity are composed of an ex¬ 
ceedingly hard granite with poor cleavage, but with great 
numbers of short cross seams, making it most costly to 
quarry stone of large dimensions. 

No limestone existing in the vicinity, the cost of trans¬ 
porting lime was so great as to prevent its use. 

On the side of the mountain, at the distance of about 
one mile, there was a large pile of loose stone, too irregu¬ 
lar in shape to be used in wall-building, but of good quali¬ 
ty for an embankment. It was found to be cheaper to 
build a tramway to this stone and haul it to the work 


I IO 


DAMS. 


than to quarry from the cliffs nearer the dam. Hence, 
the supply of material being abundant, flat slopes of 45 0 
for the wall were adopted, which allowed very much 
lighter face walls to be used with safety than would have 
been the case had they been more nearly vertical. 

The stone for these face walls was quarried from solid 
rock, and cost in place three or four times more than the 
loose stone brought from the mountain side. When in 
the future the timber logs forming the cribs in the origi¬ 
nal seventy-two feet dam decay, there will be some slight 
subsidence of the superincumbent stone. The depth of 
the stone is so considerable and the slopes of the walls 
are so flat that it is believed this subsidence will not be 
noticeable. 

Waste Dam. —Figures 6 A and 6B show longitudi¬ 
nal and cross sections of the waste dam. This is a crib of 
round cedar timbers varying from twelve to thirty inches 
in diameter, notched down to heart wood at the joints, 
and firmly bolted with three-quarter and one-inch drift 
bolts. The foundation logs are all fastened to the bed¬ 
rock with one and one-half inch bolts. 

The cribs are solidly filled with granite rocks vary¬ 
ing from several tons to a few pounds. No sand or fine 
stone was used in this filling. A plank facing of three- 
inch heart sugar-pine is spiked on the water-face, mak¬ 
ing a water-tight lining similar to that on the main 
dam. 

The crest of the original dam is ninety-two and one- 
half feet above datum line, being four feet lower than the 
summit of the main dam. A light superstructure of four 
feet allows the water to be raised to the height of the 
main dam. The waste dam is provided with twenty- 
eight escapes, each four feet wide and eleven feet deep. 
These waste-ways are closed, when all danger from fresh¬ 
ets is passed, with boards two inches thick, eight inches 
wide, four and one-half feet long, laid horizontally, and 
sliding to their places one above the other on the inclined 


DAMS. 


I I I 


slope of the water-face. This style of gate has been found 
by long experience to be the best. 

The weight of the dam is about 6500 tons, and the 
hydrostatic pressure, with the water line 95 feet above 


A 

Section across Ravine. 



B 


Section through waste dam. 

1 


Scale 


180 



Fig. 6. Bowman Waste Dam. 

datum line, against a vertical plane of that height across 
its upper face, is 2571 tons. 

It is believed that the structure is sufficiently stable to 
allow a flood of 16,000 cubic feet of water per second to 
pass with safety through the wastes and over its crest. 

The water passing over the dam falls on bare granite 
bed-rock, and thence down a steep gorge. 










































































I 12 


DAMS. 


From past experience in the use of cedar timber it is 
safe to assume that the life of this structure will be from 
twenty-five to thirty years, and possibly longer. Its cost 
was $15,000.* 

Debris Dams. —Debris dams are obstructions placed 
across the beds of streams for the purpose of holding back 
the sand and gravel coming from the mines, to prevent 
their entering into the navigable streams and damaging 
the land in the valleys below. They may be placed either 
in the mountain canons or in the valleys where storage 
room can be conveniently obtained. These dams or bar¬ 
riers may be composed of stone, wood, or brush, as cir¬ 
cumstances require. The structures are not designed to 
impound water, but simply to check the velocity of the 
current carrying the mining and other debris and to allow 
the deposit of the material behind them, and therefore 
they partake more of the character of retaining walls than 
of water dams. 

“The deposits in the streams consist of stones several cubic feet in 
volume—cobble, gravel in all sizes, sand in various degrees of fineness, 
and a mixture of extremely fine sand and clay, popularly known as * slick- 
ens.’ This latter material, being easily transported, is constantly in motion, 
even in the low stages of the stream. The same is probably also true of 
the finer sands, and in particular streams is true of the gravel, at least in 
the upper portions, where the beds are confined and where the slopes are 
steep. 

“ When the high stages of water come they find the beds of the streams 
dotted at the ends of the mining sluices with mounds of detritus, which 
sometimes form dams across the beds of the stream. 

“ The effect of the flood-water is to sweep these deposits, excepting 
perhaps the largest pieces of stone, and to carry them away to lower parts 
of the river. The fall of some of the principal streams serving as outlets to 
the mines is in places 50 and even 75 feet to the mile. A rise of 20 feet 
more or less in a narrow bed with such a fall is sufficient to move material 
with great effect. 

“ The periods and stages of high water vary very much here as else¬ 
where ; but the rainfall, be it large or small—and there is great variation in 
this respect—comes mainly in two or three months, so that there is, except 

* The above description of the Bowman dams is essentially the same as that written for 
the author by Hamilton Smith, Jr., who planned and constructed the dams. 


DAMS. 


I 13 

in very dry years, a period of some length in which the water is high from 
rains. 

“There is also a period of high-water in the spring, due to melting of 
the snow which has accumulated during the winter on the higher altitudes 
of the Sierra. 

“ The mass of material thus put in motion in narrow and steep river¬ 
beds is carried along to the lower parts of the rivers, each tributary contri¬ 
buting its share of flood-water and detritus, and uniting to form at or near 
the edge of the foot-hills the rivers to which we have given names. As the 
detritus reaches lower portions, the streams, less concentrated and with 
constantly diminishing fall in the bed, find themselves unable to carry to 
the lower course the load which they transported in the upper. When 
these streams, as they were before mining was begun, reached the plains of 
the Sacramento Valley, the fall of the beds diminished to a very few feet 
per mile, perhaps 3 or 4, so that, all along the whole lower course of the 
river, the bed first, and afterwards the plains bordering the river where the 
banks were low, became depository places for the material the river was no 
longer able to carry. The river bed in the plains first becomes obliterated 
by deposits, and then the alluvial lands adjoining become a waste of sand, 
gravel, and ‘slickens.’ Instead of a river bed there is a wide plain over¬ 
flowed at high stage, through which, meandering in constantly varying 

channels, the summer river pursues its devious course.”* 

p 

The topography of the country along the lines of the 
mountain streams, though rugged, affords every facility 
for carrying out successfully a plan for storing the tail¬ 
ings. The banks are generally of great height, with slopes 
which vary from fifteen to fifty degrees. The general 
slope is about thirty-five degrees, and “ an elevation of 
fifty feet adds one hundred and forty to the width, which 
extended width,” says Col. Mendell, “ reduces the height 
of floods, the cubes of the heights being proportional to 
the squares of the widths. Doubling the width reduces 
the height one third, which reduction in height reduces 
the suspending power of the water and the exposure of the 
structure to floods.” f The storage capacity is conse¬ 
quently increased by this additional width as the bed of 
the stream is elevated. 

The chief obstacles to be encountered in the erection 

* Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers U. S. Army for 1881, Appendix MM,. 

t Col. Mendell’s Report on Mining Debris in California Rivers, p. 41. 


DAMS. 


114 

of these dams arise from the present condition of the 
beds of the streams, the accumulations of past years, and 
the current mining operations. The channels in their 
present state contain large quantities of such detritus. In 
the Yuba alone above Smartsville over 80,000,000 cubic 
yards are estimated to be deposited in the canons, and be¬ 
tween Smartsville and the mouth of the Yuba some 700,- 
000,000 cubic yards are said to be in the bed of the stream. 
According to the testimony given in the case of Keyes vs. 
Little York Gold Washing and Water Company, 86,000,- 
000 cubic yards were estimated in 1878 to have been de¬ 
posited in the bed of Bear River above the plains, and 36,- 
000,000 cubic yards below the foot-hills to its mouth, a 
total of 122,000,000 cubic yards. 

Without entering further into details of numerous 
other streams in which debris is or has been deposited for 
the past thirty-five years, suffice it to say that, mining or 
no mining, it is only a question of time as to when a large 
part of this mass will move down into the lowlands, un¬ 
less measures are taken to prevent the continuous eroding 
action of the waters and also to impound the material, 
which can be done only by the construction of a system 
of permanent dams. Such structures would prevent the 
streams from eroding the deposits to their original beds, 
which otherwise, under certain conditions, must sooner or 
later occur. They would hold in check the accumula¬ 
tions of sand and debris now stored in the canons, and 
would permit the continuation of mining without detri¬ 
ment to the interests of others. 

“ It may be asked,” says Col. Mendell, “whether the protection afford¬ 
ed in this way will be complete and include all grades of mining tailings. 
This cannot be claimed. The suspensory matter of fine sands and clay 
cannot be restrained in this way or by any other method which does not 
provide a settling basin in which the water can be maintained in a quies¬ 
cent state for some time. 

“ It may also be expected that during the flood stages in the early 
period of development a certain portion of material of every grade may be 
suspended, and thus pass the crest of the barrier ; but it is to be remarked 


DAMS. 


115 

that as the width is increased the suspensory power is diminished, so that 
the degree of protection becomes greater as the system is developed. We 
can imagine a condition of a river when comparatively little is carried sus¬ 
pended, and nearly the whole of the material transported is rolled in waves 
on the bottom. 

“ This condition is more and more approached as the dams are raised. 
It seems, therefore, to be good policy to give the first dam in the canons 
considerable height. 

“ It will be understood that permanent protection can be attained only 
by building dams in proportion to the amount of detritus turned out by 
the mines. The system must be continued at least as long as the mines 
are worked. 

“ If this system of restraint had proceeded pari passu with mining dur¬ 
ing the past thirty years it can hardly be doubted that the condition of the 
country affected would to-day have been much better than it is.'’ * 


The height of floods in the Yuba is only twelve feet 
at the Narrows, and the water is fully loaded with all 
the material it is capable of transporting. To insure pro¬ 
tection permanent structures are therefore required. On 
sand or gravel bottoms mattresses of trees or brush may 
be used to prevent settling; but where the supply of rock 
is abundant, convenient, and cheap, masses of stone can 
be blasted from the side hills, and, by means of derricks 
or otherwise, be easily arranged as required. The larger 
the rocks are the better; the largest being put on the 
down-stream side, so placed as to permit the draining 
through of the water; the smaller rocks 011 the up-stream 
side. The slopes on both sides should conform to the re¬ 
quirements of the structure. As the dam is built the ma¬ 
terial will gradually deposit itself against it on the up¬ 
stream face; the water draining through the rocks leaves 
behind in the dam the sand, which gradually Alls up the 
spaces as the bed of the river is raised. Waste-ways may 
be readily provided on one or both sides of the dam, which 
would have the practical effect of lengthening the crest 
of the dam and of thereby reducing the depth of water 
passing over it in freshets, in the proportion already 


* Col. Mendell’s Report on Mining Debris in California Rivers, p. 41. 


DAMS. 


116 

stated. This arrangement will lessen the exposure of 
the lower face and toe of the dam. 

In time of great flood the crest will be submerged to a 
greater or less degree, depending on the width of the 
structure and the volume of water discharged by the 
stream. This would be of little consequence, as the work 
should be especially designed to permit of the flood 
waters passing over it, the stability of the dam being as¬ 
sured by the size and weight of the stones exposed to the 
water. 

The stability of a structure of this character is de¬ 
pendent upon conditions differing from those which ap¬ 
ply to a structure composed of stones united by a bond, 
such as an ordinary retaining wall. In the latter case, if 
the bond is sufficient to make the wall practically a mono¬ 
lith, its stability will be complete if it be given weight 
enough to prevent it from sliding on its base, and such 
proportions that it can have no motion of rotation about 
its toe. 

The force tending to move or overthrow the bonded 
dam is equal to the weight of a prism of water whose 
base is the area immersed, and whose height is the verti¬ 
cal distance of the centre of gravity from the water- 
level. The point of application of this thrust is situated 
at one-third of the height ol the water measured from 
the base. 1 he direction of the thrust is normal to the 
surface. 

1 he problem is an exact one. The thrust is known in its 
magnitude, its point of application, and its direction, and 
the problem of proportioning a wall of masonry to resist 
this thrust admits of complete solution.* 

But the detritus barriers are composed of pierres-per- 
dues, or what is commonly known as “ rip-rap.” There 
can be little bond in such a structure. Careful placing of 
stones may, it is true, impart something like a bond, but 


* See Rankin, Krantz. 


DAMS. 


11 / 


this cannot be safely relied upon as a source of strength.- 
Each stone, being practically independent of its neighbors,, 
must rely upon its own resisting quality to maintain its 
place in the structure. 

It follows that where the floods are great and the ex¬ 
posure consequently large the stones must be proportion¬ 
ately large and heavy. 

The interior of a structure of this kind, being protect¬ 
ed from the action of the water and held in place by 
superincumbent weight, may be composed of sizes of 
stone which it would be unsafe to place on the crest and 
exposed surfaces. The stones of the crest and on the 
lower slope are most exposed, and consequently must be 
of the largest sizes. The force that tends to move them 
is not hydrostatic pressure, but the force and impact of 
great volumes of water moving with high velocity. 

Such a structure, composed of rubble stone and unable 
to impound water, would be exposed to the pressure of 
the material which is slowly deposited behind it. The 
maximum horizontal pressure from this source alone 
would be reached when the plane of fracture of the earth 
bisects the angle which will be formed by the earth slop¬ 
ing back from the foot of the wall on its angle of repose ; 
therefore the weight of such a prism can be easily cal¬ 
culated. 

As the dam tills up, the pressure of the material on it¬ 
self, owing to its composition, would cause it to consoli¬ 
date (cement), thus continually changing the angle of re¬ 
pose, until finally, when even with the crest, there would 
be comparatively no horizontal thrust or pressure on the 
dam, the structure simply protecting the face of the de¬ 
posit from erosion. Therefore such barriers, constructed 
with proper materials on the well-known principles of 
dam-building, could not fail to hold back the debris. 

As these dams are not water-tight, and are composed 
of large masses of rubble stone without bond, it is difficult 
to see how, in the event of a breach, the inhabitants below 


118 


DAMS. 


would suffer, nor can it be conceived how a total destruc¬ 
tion of the structure could occur. The dam might settle 
and its usefulness be temporarily impaired, but the only 
effect that could result in the event of a breach would be 
a return to the condition of affairs at present existing. 
As the waters are already charged to their fullest extent, 
no larger quantity of debris could be transported to a 
greater distance in a single flood. The report of Lieut.- 
Col. G. H. Mendell to the Secretary of War (1882) treats 
in detail the remedial measures proposed, and shows 
“ their necessity even in the event that no further con¬ 
tribution be made to mining detritus in the beds of 
streams.” 


TABLE V 


Rain-fall (in inches) at North Bloomfield and at the Bowman Dam. 



1 863-4 

1864-5 

1865-6 

I 

I866-7 

1S67-8 

1868-9 

1869-70^870-71 

N 

1 

CO 

18 72-3 

1873-4 

'874-5 

1 

1875-6 

1876-7 

1877-8 

1878-9 

1879-80 

1880-1 

l88l-2 

l882-3 

September. 

^ North Bloomfield. 



o-59 


1.65 

0.30 

O.I3 


Sp’kle 

0.l6 


0.06 


0.31 


0.85 


Sp’kle 

x -75 

2.74 


\ Bowman. 












0.15 
















.... 







0.4 I 


I . 24 



2-33 

2.94 

October . . . 

( North Bloomfield . 



2.03 


314 

0.37 

4-33 

1.81 

0.83 

°-53 

O.67 

4.88 

2.09 

10.46 

1.10 

3-34 

3-°3 

Sp’kle 

3-86 

6.86 


( Bowman. 




.... 





0.98 

o-73 

1.24 

4-54 

3-°9 

10.76 

1.52 

2.83 

3-4i 

0.65 

6.09 

11.47 

November. 

( North Bloomfield. 

1.00 

17.08 

14.29 

8.31 

*3-94 

1.29 

4.04 

3-24 

6.20 

4-47 

3-37 

I3-52 

'5-53 

0.85 

4.22 

3-72 

6.43 

0.41 

4.05 

5-7 2 


| Bowman . 









7.88 

5-43 

4-37 

'5-35 

23.23 

0.87 

8.26 

5-36 

9.62 

0.15 

4.25 

6.51 

December 

( North Bloomfield . 

3-5° 

17.42 

i-95 

28.30 

36.29 

9.l8 

5-44 

4-3i 

25.19 

11.17 

19.00 

I.2I 

7.64 


1.96 

I.l8 

'3-57 

21.10 

8.73 

3-59 


( Bowman .. 




.... 





38.20 

I 7-4 I 

23-47 

1.58 

IO.77 


1 -7 1 

1.30 

15.00 

25-05 

IO.78 

4.32 


( North Bloomfield. 

0.90 

9.71 

15-47 

12.30 

9-54 

14.58 

7.98 

7-54 

12.71 

4.16 

I 5- I 7 

15.OO 

IO.98 

9.98 

15-72 

10.00 

5-96 

19.46 

8.02 

3-6q 

January... 























( Bowman . 









12.98 

5-73 

2i-53 

16.91 

17.62 

'4-33 

17.00 

14.50 

9.27 

27.82 

11.46 

5.06 


j North Bloomfield . 

0.50 

4.38 

5.60 

8.65 

5-5° 

IO.9I 

12-53 

5-94 

18.22 

II.O9 

7.08 

0.88 

10.20 

2.89 

16.97 

9-49 

5-66 

12*13 

6.77 

3-94 


( Bowman. 





.... 




27.08 

l6.I7 

9.98 

O.25 

I I.70 

3.18 

21.21 

14.78 

8.17 

15.08 

7-47 

5.28 


{ North Bloomfield. 

5-38 

2.09 

14.24 

5-4° 

20.14 

6.02 

6-55 

5-°3 

5-73 

2.50 

II.l6 

3-56 

13.02 

4.92 

9- 2 3 

l6.62 

5-45 

4.92 

10.02 

10.45 


( Bowman. 




.... 





7-52 

3.82 

*7-73 

5.18 

18.07 

7-4) 

IO.O7 

20.96 

9-5i 

7.29 

I5-I7 

12.79 


( North Bloomfield. 

3*25 

I *75 

°-59 

5-94 

6.25 

4-95 

3-94 

4.36 

3-84 

2.40 

4.04 

O.JO 

4-03 

3.07 

2.44 

6.69 

23-31 

2.59 

5-39 

3-39 

April. 













































j North Bloomfield. 

2-75 

1.31 

4-5° 

1.65 

1.29 

I.4O 

1.19 

3-36 

J-39 

i-57 

1.78 

1.68 

1.06 

2.66 

o-95 

3.84 

5-73 

i-33 

1.82 


1 











2.65 






3-93 

8.9O 





| North Bloomfield. 





I.96 

0.04 

0.24 

0.12 

O.4I 

0.25 

2.63 

0.01 

0.91 

Sp’kle 

0.64 

0.06 

i-57 

0.63 


June . 


































o-45 

2.38 



0.10 

0.71 


3-52 

O.42 



North Bloomfield. 








Sp’kle 

Sp’kle 

0.10 

1.76 

Sp’kle 

Sp’kle 

Sp’kle 


July.■< 



















Bowman. 









0.88 

0.06 


0.25 

1.28 


0.09 

0.05 




.... 


North Bloomfield. 


°-75 









0.02 

0.01 


Sp’kle 

0.24 




! 

August.. . . A 




















1 


Bowman. 











O.08 




0.13 

0.10 





I 

North Bloomfield . 

17.28 

54-49 

59.26 

7°-55 

99.70 

49. 0 4 

46.40 

35-71 

74-52 

38.15 

62.54 

43-72 

66.33 

36.05 

5=-59 

56.61 

69.20 

63-51 

51.04 

40.38 

I otals.•< 






















\ 

Bowman. 









102.22 

55-45 

88.19 

50.27 

93-03 

44.71 

64 72 

75-46 

95.60 

85.22 

67.09 

53-52 


Note. —Observations were begun at North Bloomfield on April i, 1870. From Sept, x, 1863, to March 31, 1870, the amount of precipitation is assumed the same as that at Nevada City, 
the gauge-readings at these points being always nearly the same, 
























































































































■ 











































TABLE VI, 


Ravi and Snow Fall at Big Canon {Bowman) Reservoir , and Total Catch of Water from its Basin, 18.9 square miles- 




1872 

-1873 

1873-1874 

1874-1875 


1875 

-1876 

1876-1877 


1877- 

1 

00 

r-- 

00 

1878-1879 

1879-1880 

1880-1881 


i*81- 

00 

00 

N 


Snow. 

Rain and 
Melted 
Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

1 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

ana 

Waste. 

Snow. 

Rain and 

Melted 

Snow. 

Draught 

and 

Waste. 

September. 

Inches. 

I etches. 
0.25 

Cubic Feet. 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Cubic Feet. 

35 million 

Incites. 

Inches. 

0.15 

Cubic Feet. 

198 million 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Cubic Feet. 
106 million 

Inches. 

Inches. 

0.41 

Cubic Feet. I 
161 million 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Cubic Feet. 

135 million 

Inches. 

1.0 

/ hches. 
1.24 

Cubic Feet. 

201 million 

Inches. 

Inches. 

C ubic Feet. 

201 million 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Cubic Feet. 

201 million 

Inches. 

2-5 

Inches. 

2-33 

Cubic Feet . 

133 million 


4-5 

o -73 

11 million 


1.24 

40 “ 

26.0 

4-54 

72 44 


3-°9 

55 “ 


10.76 

98 “ 



62 •* 


2.83 

136 44 













7-5 


i- 5 2 

6.0 

23.0 

3.41 

140 44 


0.65 

172 “ 

11.5 

6.09 

204 44 



5-43 


_ „ 

4-37 

2 4 “ 

39-5 

15-35 

60 “ 

! 2 5-5 

23.23 

315 “ 


0.87 

11 44 

10.0 

8.26 

n “ 


5-36 



9.62 




176 “ 









1-5 

91 

25.0 

195 

3-5 

015 

33-5 

4.25 

152 “ 

December. 


17-41 

67 “ 

146.0 

2 3-47 

52 “ 

IO.O 

1-58 

116 u 

2 5-5 

10.77 

286 “ 


.... 

i 43 u 

16.0 

1.71 

17 “ 

6.0 

1.30 

5 ° “ 

63.0 

15 .00 

175 “ 

no.5 

2 5-05 

175 “ 

1 -5 

10.78 

163 44 


29.5 

5-73 

213 44 

85.0 

®i 53 

119 “ 


l6.9I 


i 5 2 -5 

17.62 

2 35 “ 

77-5 

14.33 

91 44 

9 i -5 

17.00 

73 “ 

60.5 

H-5 0 

54 “ 

57-5 

9.27 

171 44 

38.0 

27.82 








102 

59-5 

11.46 

150 “ 


137.0 


187 •* 

82.0 

9.98 

152 “ 



182 “ 

! 90.0 

11.70 

205 44 


3 -i 3 

95 “ 

114.5 

21.21 

81 

45.0 

14.78 

106 “ 

78.5 

8.17 

83 “ 

24.5 

15.08 

455 “ 









7 2 -5 

7-47 

153 


18.0 

3.82 

i8 4 “ 

127.0 

17-73 

161 “ 

30.0 

5 -i 8 

196 44 

129.0 

t''. 

0 

00 

76 “ 

3-5 

7-49 

68 “ 

33-0 

10.07 

107 44 

91-5 

20.96 

91 “ 

55 -o 

9 - 5 i 

77 “ 

55-5 

7.29 


125.0 

15.17 

96 •• 




8.5 


161 “ 

19.0 

5-41 

138 » 

7.0 

0.83 

82 “ 

14.0 

5 - 9 2 

37 2 “ 

14-5 

317 

108 “ 


2 -57 


39-5 

9.70 

275 11 

176.0 

3 J - 7 2 

91 44 


4-44 

519 “ 

44 0 

7.96 

72 “ 









13.° 

2.65 

374 “ 

17-5 

3-93 

1094 “ 


2.85 

287 44 


O.99 

1032 44 

8.5 

3-33 

119 4 ‘ 


2.06 

568 “ 





8.90 

192 44 



397 “ 


1.16 

t4 

















181 


0.45 

“47 “ 

1.0 

2.38 

46 “ 


O.36 

978 “ 


1.17 

124 “ 


0.10 

320 44 


0.71 

. 5 11 “ 



1056 “ 





0.42 



















July. 


0.06 

167 “ 

u8 “ 



368 “ 


0.25 

125 “ 


I .28 

250 44 



138 “ 


0.09 

0.13 

201 44 


0.05 

0.10 







107 44 

131 44 



195 “ 

209 44 





0.08 

207 44 


133 “ 



181 “ 



140 U 


207 44 


207 44 



211 44 






























216.5 

55-45 

1677 million 

480.0 

88.I9 

3537 million 

166.0 

50.27 

1727 million 

444.0 

93-°3 

4091 million 

115 0 

44-71 

1296 million 

290.0 

64.72 

1886 million 

255-5 

75 - 4 6 

2382 million 

498.5 

95 -bo 

29^4 million 

+153 “ 

232.0 

85.22 

2864 million 

350.0 

... 

67.09 

2252 million 

-f- or — for stored water 

.... 

+ii 4 “ 

+147 “ 



-46 “ 



+6 “ 

.... 


-36 “ 

+252 “ 

+46 “ 


—40 44 

-134 “ 




1791 million 

2434 M 



3684 million 



1681 million 



4097 million 



1260 million 



2138 million 



242S million 



3137 million 

4^97 U 



2824 million 



2118 million 

Gross precipitation in ) 
18.9 miles. ) 


.... 

.... 


3873 “ 



2208 “ 



4085 “ 



1963 “ 



2842 44 



3313 





374 1 “ 



2946 “ 

Per cent, of yield to | 
precipitation. (" 


73.6 per 

cent.* 

95.1 per cent.* . 

76.1 per cent.* 

P reak of Faucherie dam afforded 
this season extra drainage from 

5 1-10 miles. 

64.2 per cent. 

75.2 per cent. 

73.3 per cent. 

74.7 per cent. 

75.4 per cent. 

71.9 per cent. 

1 


N ote ._J n seasons of large rain-fall the Big Canon reservoir receives the surplus water from the French (or Eureka) Lake Basin, 4.95 

at an elevation of 5,200 feet above sea-level, which is the lowest point in the Big Canon reservoir. The basin extends to a height of 7,8c 

* These years the Faucherie Dam was of low height, and considerable water was received in Big Canon Reservoir from Faucherie 


square miles, and Faucherie Basin, 5 t-10 miles. With rain-fall of 75 inches and under nothing is received from French Lake Basin, 
o feet above sea-level. The country is generally wooded, with some meadows, and a considerable extent of bare cliffs. 

Basin. No allowance is made in the above table for evaporation from surface of reservoir, which, when full, has an area of 500 acres. 


With rain-fall under 60 inches but little is received from Faucherie Basin. The rain-gauge at Big Canon is placed 
Table VI. was calculated by Mr. H. C. Perkins, Supt. North Bloomfield Gravel-Mining Co., from official data. 































































































































































































































CHAPTER IX. 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER * 

Weirs. —The direct measurement of flowing - water in 
a stream or channel can be made in various ways. Occa¬ 
sionally gauge wheels are used, but the method is expen¬ 
sive. Gauging by rectangular overfalls (weirs) of certain 
dimensions and under certain circumstances gives results 
within one per cent, of absolute exactitude (Francis’ for¬ 
mula). 

In employing this method the height above the crest 
of the surface of still water, some little distance back 
from the weir, must be carefully measured. It is also de¬ 
sirable that there should be no considerable current to 
the water at the place of measurement. 

Orifices. —Flowing water is measured also by its dis¬ 
charge under pressure through an aperture of regular 
section. Though it is not theoretically correct, there will 
be no practical error in assuming the average head to be 
from the centre of the aperture when the width is con¬ 
siderably less than the height of the water above the top 
of the opening. 

Open Channels. —The measurement of the surface 
velocity of water passing through a flume or canal of uni¬ 
form size can be used to determine its discharge, and in 
some cases the simple calculation of discharge made by 

* For details on the subject of the measurement of water see “ The Mechanics of Engineer¬ 
ing,” by Julius Weisbach, translated by E. B. Coxe; Francis’ “ Lowell Hydraulics”; “Re¬ 
port Mississippi River,” by Humphreys and Abbot; “Hydraulic Manual,” by Louis D’A. 
Jackson ; “ The New Formulae for the Mean Velocity of Discharge of Rivers and Canals,” by 
W. R. Kutter ; “Hydraulic Tables,” by Thos. Higham ; “A Treatise on Water-Supply 
Engineering,” by J. T. Fanning ; “ Experiments on the Flow of Water,” by A. Fteley and 
E. P. Stearns, vol. xii. “Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers.” 


120 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


multiplying the mean velocity due to the grade by the 
average cross section is sufficiently accurate. The dis¬ 
charge of small streams is obtained more exactly by fill¬ 
ing vessels of known capacity. 

Formula for Discharge over Weirs. —In gauging 
large quantities of water over weirs Fteley and Stearns’s 
general formula can be used for the discharge over the 
simplest form of sharp-crested weir, unaffected by end 
contractions or velocity of approach. If these conditions 
exist the corrections for them must be made separately.* 

The formula is 


Q = 3*31 LHP + 0.007 L 

Q is the quantity in cubic feet per second, L the length 
of the weir, and H the depth on the weir corrected for 
velocity of approach. This formula does not apply to 
any depth of the weir less than 0.07 feet. 

Discharge through Triangular Notches. —The 
right-angled triangular notch of thin sheet iron is a very 
convenient way of measuring the discharge of water. 
According to Prof. Thompson’s experiments, the dis- 

5 

charge in cubic feet per second = head 2 (in inches) X 
0.0051. 

To use the notch, construct a weir box, O, with a tri¬ 
angular notch, Y, made of iron, fitted in one end. The 
edge of the notch must be sharp and bevelled out, and the 
inside face must be placed at right angles to the surface 
of the water, M. Place in the box baffle boards or strips, 
K K, to render the surface of the water near the point A 
uniform or still (A is taken about 18 to 24 inches back from 
the weir plate Y). Place a spirit-level or straight-edge C 
on the weir plate at E; measure the distance at A from C 
to surface of water. Subtract this from H, and find the 
difference in column marked h of Table VII. Opposite h, 


* See “ Transactions American Society Civil Engineers,” vol. xii. p. 32. 



MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


12 I 


in column Q, will be found the number of cubic feet of 
water flowing over the notch in one minute. 



THE MINER’S INCH. 

The miner’s inch of water is a 
quantity which varies in almost 
every district in California; no one 
gauge has been uniformly adopted, 
nor has any established pressure 
been agreed on under which the 
water shall be measured. In some 
counties there are io, 11, or 12 
hour inches, and in others there is 
a 24-hour inch. The apertures 
through which the water is mea¬ 
sured are generally rectangular, but vary greatly in 
width and length, being from one inch to twelve inches 
wide and from a few inches to several feet long. The 
discharges are through i-inch, i^-inch, 2-inch, and 3-inch 
planks, with square or with square and chamfered edges, 
combined or not, as the case may be. The bottoms of 
the openings are sometimes flush with the bottoms of the 
boxes, sometimes raised above them. The head may de¬ 
note the distance above the centre of the aperture, or 




Fig. 7. Construction of 
Triangular Weirs. 






















































122 MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 

TABLE VII. 

Discharge of Water through a Right-angled Triangular Notch. 

Calculated by W. R. Eckart, C.E. 


h 

Head, 

inches. 

L q . 

Quantity 
per min., 
cu. ft. 

1 

h 

j Head, 
inches. 

Q. 

Quantity 
per min., 
cu. ft. 

! 

h 

Head, 

inches. 

Q 

Quant, 
per min, 
Cll, ft. 

h 

Head, 

inches. 

Q 

Quant, 
per min, 
cu. ft. 

h 

Head, 

inches. 

Q . 

Quantity 
per min., 
cu. ft. 

I.05 

0-3457 

3-25 

5 .S 27 

5-45 

21.22 

7.65 

49*53 

9*85 

93 -18 

I. IO 

0.3884 

3-30 

6.054 

5-50 

21,71 

7.70 

50.34 

9.90 

94*37 

I-T 5 

0.4340 

3-35 

6.285 

5-55 

22.20 

7*75 

51.16 

9*95 

95.56 

1.20 

0.4827 

3.40 

6.523 

5.60 

22.70 

7.80 

5 i *99 

10.00 

96.77 

1-25 

0-5345 

3-45 

6.765 

5.65 

23.22 

7*85 

52.83 

10.05 

97.98 

1.30 

0.5S96 

3.50 

7.012 

5*70 

23*74 

7.90 

53.67 

10.10 

99 20 

1-35 

0.6480 

3*55 

7.266 

5-75 

24.26 

7*95 

54-53 

10.15 

IOO.43 

I.40 

0.7096 

3.60 

7-524 

5.80 

24.79 

8.00 

55*39 

10.20 

IOI.67 

i -45 

0.7747 

3-65 

7.788 

5.85 

25.33 

8.05 

56.26 

10.25 

IO2.92 

1.50 

0.8432 

3*70 

8.058 

5 - 9 ° 

25.87 

8.10 

57*14 

10.30 

IO4.18 

1.55 

0.9153 

1 3-75 

8.332 

5-95 

26.42 

8.15 

58.03 

10.35 

105*45 

1.60 

0.9909 

3.80 

8.613 

6.00 

26.98 

8.20 

58.92 

10.40 

IO6.73 

1.65 

1.070 

3-85 

8. S99 

6.05 

27.55 

8.25 

59.82 

10.45 

108.02 I 

r .70 

I-I 53 

3 - 9 ° 

9 * I 9 I 

6.10 

28.12 

8.30 

60.73 

10.50 

IO9.3I 

i -75 

1.240 

3-95 

9.489 

6.15 

2S.70 

8.35 

61.65 

io .55 

I10.62 

1.80 

1-330 

4.00 

9.792 

6.20 

29.28 

8.40 

62.58 

10.60 

in. 94 

1.S5 

1.424 

4-05 

10.10 

6.25 

29.88 

8.45 

63.51 

10.65 

113.26 

1 .go 

1.522 

4.10 

10.41 

6.30 

30.4S 

8.50 

64*45 

10.70 

114.60 

1 *95 

1.625 

4 -i 5 

10.73 

6.35 

31.09 

8.55 

65.41 

10.75 

115-94 

2.00 

i* 73 i 

4.20 

11.06 

6.40 

31.71 

8.60 

66.37 

10.80 

117.29 

2.05 

1.841 

4*25 

11.39 

6-45 

32.33 

8.65 

67 A 4 

10.85 

118.65 

2.10 

1-955 

4.30 

11 73 

6.50 

32.96 

8.70 

68.32 

10.90 

120.02 

2.15 

2.074 

4-35 

12.07 

6-55 

33 * 60 

8.75 

69.30 

10.95 

121.41 

2.20 

2.196 

4.40 

12.42 

6.60 

34-24 

8.80 

70.30 

11.00 

122.81 

2.25 

2.323 

4-45 

12.78 

6.65 

34-89 

8.85 

71.30 

11.05 

124.21 

2.30 

2.455 

4.50 

13-14 

6.70 

35*56 

8.90 

72.31 

11.10 

125.61 

2-35 

2.590 

4 - 55 

13.51 

6-75 

36.23 

8.95 

73-33 

11.15 

127.03 

2.40 

2.730 

4.60 

13.89 

6.80 

36.89 

9.00 

74 * 3 6 

11.20 

128.45 

2-45 

2.875 

4-65 

14.27 

6.85 

37.58 

9*05 

75 * 4 ° 

11.25 

129 90 

2.50 

3.024 

4.70 

14.65 

6.90 

38.27 

9.10 

76 44 

11.30 

131*35 

2-55 

3.177 

4-75 

15-04 

6.95 

38.96 

9*15 

77-49 

ii *35 

132.81 

2.60 

3-335 

4.80 

15.44 

7.00 

39*67 

9.20 

78.55 

11.40 

I 34.27 

2.65 

3.498 

4-85 

15.85 

7-05 

40.38 

9*25 

79*63 

ii *45 

135*75 

2.70 

3.666 

4.90 

16.26 

7.10 

41.10 

9*30 

80.71 

n.50 

I 37-23 

2-75 

3.838 

4-95 

16.68 

7-15 

41-83 

9*35 

81.80 

H -55 

138.73 

2.80 

4 014 

5.00 

17.11 

7.20 

42.56 

9.40 

82.90 

11.60 

140.23 

2.85 

4.196 

5.05 

17.54 

7-25 

43.30 

9*45 1 

84.01 

11.65 

141*75 

2.90 

4.382 

5.10 

17.97 

7-30 

44.06 

9*50 

85.12 

11.70 

143.28 

2-95 

4-574 

5.15 

1S.42 

7-35 

44.82 

9*55 

86.24 

11*75 

144.82 

3.00 

4.770 

5.20 

18.87 

7.40 

45.58 

9.60 

S 7.37 

11.80 

146.36 

3-05 

4.971 

5-25 

19.32 

7-45 

46.36 j 

9*65 

88.52 

11.85 

147.91 

3.10 

5.178 

5.30 

19.79 

7.50 

47*14 

9.70 

89.67 

11.90 

149.48 

3 -i 5 

5 . 3 S 8 

5-35 

20.26 

7-55 

47.92 

9*75 

90.83 

H -95 

151.05 

3.20 

5.605 

5-40 

20.73 

7.60 

48.72 

9.80 

92.00 

12.00 

152.64 


i cubic foot = 7.48 U. S. gals.; 1 U. S. gal. = 8.34 pounds. 















































































MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


123 


TABLE VIII. 


Coefficients of Discharge for Rectangular Orifces in thin vertical 
partitions with greater dimension horizontal. 

From Fanning’s Treatise on “ Water-Supply Engineering.” 


Head upon 
centre of 
Orifice, 
Feet. 

Breadth and Height of Orifices. 

0.75 foot high. 

1 foot wide. 

0.50 foot high. 

1 foot wide. 

0.25 foot high. 

1 foot wide. 

0.125 foot high. 

1 foot wide. 

0.2 

• • • • 

• • • « 


•6333 

°-3 

• • • • 

• • • • 

.6293 

•6334 

O.4 

• • • • 

.6140 

.6306 

• 6 334 

°-5 

.6050 

.6150 

• 6 3 x 3 

•6333 

0.6 

.6063 

.6156 

•6317 

•6332 

0.7 

.6074 

.6162 

.6319 

.6328 

0.8 

.6082 

.6165 

.6322 

.6326 

0.9 

.6086 

.6168 

•6323 

,6324 

1.00 

.6090 

.6172 

.6320 

.6320 

!- 2 5 

.6095 

•6173 

.6317 

.6312 

1 - 5 ° 

.6lOO 

.6172 

• 63 t 3 

•6303 

1 • 75 

.6103 

.6168 

.6307 

.6296 

2.00 

.6104 

.6166 

.6302 

.6291 

2.25 

.6103 

.6163 

.6293 

.6286 

2.50 

.6102 

• 6 t 57 

.6282 

.6278 

2 -75 

.6lOI 

• 6t 55 

.6274 

.6273 

3.00 

.6lOO 

•6153 

.6267 

.6267 

3 - 5 ° 

.6094 

.6146 

.6254 

.6254 

4.00 

.6085 

.6136 

.6236 

.6236 

4 - 5 ° 

.6074 

.6125 

.6222 

.6222 

5 - 

.6063 

.6114 

.6202 

.6202 

6 . 

.6044 

.6087 

.6154 

.6154 

7 - 

.6032 

.6058 

.6110 

.6l 14 

8. 

.6022 

•6033 

.6073 

.6087 

9. 

.6015 

.6020 

.6045 

.6070 

10. 

.6010 

.6010 

.6030 

.6060 

15. 

.6012 

.6013 

•6033 

.6066 

20. 

.6014 

.6018 

.6036 

.6074 

25. 

.6016 

.6022 

.6640 

.6083 

3 °. 

.6018 

.6027 

.6044 

.6092 

35 - 

.6022 

.6032 

.6049 

.6103 

40. 

.6026 

.6037 

•6055 

.6114 

45 - 

.6030 

.6043 

.6062 

.6125 

5 °* 

•6035 

.6050 

.6070 

.6140 





















124 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


again that above the top, and varies from 4^ inches to 12 
inches above the centre of the aperture. 

The Sniartsville inch is calculated from a discharge 
through a four-inch orifice with a seven-inch board top ; 
that is to say, the head is seven inches above the opening, 
or nine inches above the centre. The bottom of the aper¬ 
ture is on a level with the bottom of the box, and .the 
board which regulates the pressure is a plank one inch 
thick and seven inches deep. Thus an opening two hun¬ 
dred and fifty inches long and four inches wide, with a 
pressure of seven inches above the top of the orifice, will 
discharge 1000 Smartsville miner’s inches. Each square 
inch of the opening will discharge 1.76 cubic feet per 
minute, which approximates the discharge per inch of a 
two-inch orifice through a three-inch plank with a head of 
nine inches above the centre of the opening, the said dis¬ 
charge being 1.78 cubic feet per minute. The Smartsville 
miner’s inch will discharge 2534.40 cubic feet in twenty- 
four hours, though in that district the inch is reckoned 
for eleven hours only. 

Other Inches. —The miner’s inch of the Park Canal 
and Mining Company, in El Dorado County, discharges 
1.39* cubic feet of water per minute. The inch of the 
South Yuba Canal Company is computed from a dis¬ 
charge through a two-inch aperture, over a one and one- 
half inch plank, with a head of six inches above the centre 
of the orifice. 

At the North Bloomfield, Milton, and La Grange 
mines the inch has been calculated from a discharge 
through an opening fifty inches long and two inches 
wide, through a three-inch plank (outer inch chamfered), 
with the water seven inches above the centre of the open¬ 
ing. 

Determination of the Inch; Experiments at 
Columbia Hill. —To determine the value of this miner’s 
inch, a series of experiments was made at Columbia Hill, 

* Estimated by J. J. Crawford, M.E. 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


125 


latitude 39 0 N., elevation 2,900 feet above the sea-level. 
The module used was a rectangular slit fifty inches long 
and two inches wide, with head seven inches above the 
centre of the opening. The dis¬ 
charge was over a three-inch 
, the outer inch chamfered, 
as shown in Fig. 8. The size of 
the opening was taken with a 
measure (micrometer attached) 
which had been compared with 
and adjusted to a standard 
United States yard. Time was 
read to one-hfth of a second; 
the level of the water (drawn fig. 8 . 

irom a large reservoir) was de¬ 
termined with Boyden’s hook, micrometer adjustment. 
The following results were obtained : 

One miner’s inch will discharge in i second. .026 cubic feet. 

“ “ “ “ 1 minute. T.57 “ 

“ “ “ 1 hour. 94.2 “ 

“ il “ “ 24 hours. 2260 8 “ 

The coefficient of efflux is 61.6 per cent. These figures 
are within the limit of possible error.* 

As the two-inch aperture requires too much space for 
gauging large quantities of water, custom has changed the 
form of the module, and an aperture twelve inches high 
by twelve and three-quarter inches wide, through a one 
and one-half inch plank, with a head of six inches above 
the top of the discharge, is now used. These openings 
discharge what is accepted as 200 miner’s inches. 

A series of experiments was made at La Grange, 
Stanislaus County, California, latitude 37 0 41 ' N., eleva¬ 
tion 216 feet above the level of the sea, to determine the 
value of the inch thus delivered in the claims. The re¬ 
sults here given are the mean of a series of gaugings 




* The experiments were made in 1874 by H. Smith, Jr., C.E. 
















126 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


taken from nine different apertures, discharging in the 
aggregate 1,800 miner’s inches. 

The water was drawn directly from a flume and dis¬ 
charged into a small reservoir, across the lower end of 
which was fitted a gauge. The velocity of the water 
issuing from the flume was broken by several drops as it 
entered the reservoir, and the gauge at the lower end 
was raised sufficiently to prevent any flow due to an 
increased velocity which might have been acquired in the 
flume. 

The level of the water was determined with a Boy- 
aen’s hook. 

The discharge from the module was caught in a flume 
and conducted to a box fitted and levelled for the pur¬ 
pose. Time was read to one-fifth of a second. The fol¬ 
lowing results were obtained: 


One miner’s inch discharged in i second. .02499 cubic feet. 

“ 1 minute. 1-4994 “ 

“ “ “ “ 1 hour. 89.9640 

“ “ “ “ 24 hours.2159.1460 11 


Effective coefficient of efflux, 59.05 per cent.* 

An experiment on a single aperture of this form, made 
by Hamilton Smith, Jr., gave a discharge of 2179.4 cubic 
feet per miner’s inch in twenty-four hours. The 2,230 
cubic feet of the North Bloomfield inch can only be con¬ 
sidered an assumed rough estimate of discharge in twen¬ 
ty-four hours for one miner’s inch. 

The theoretical velocity, in feet per second, of a fluid 
flowing into the air, through openings in the bottoms or 
sides of a vessel or reservoir, the surface level of which is 
kept constantly at the same height, is equal to that which 
a heavy body would acquire in falling through a space 
equal to the depth of the opening below the surface of the 
fluid, and is expressed as follows: 


* The experiments were made by the author. 






MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


127 


V— \/ 2gh 

In which ^^velocity in feet per second. 

^=the acceleration of gravity. 

//=the height fallen in feet. 

This is called Torricelli’s theorem, which supposes in¬ 
definitely small orifices with thin sides, and assumes that 
the upper surface of the water and the orifices are under 
the same conditions as regards atmospheric pressure. 
Conditions and size of sectional area of the aperture, fric¬ 
tion, resistance of the air to motion, and pressure of the 
atmosphere are all neglected. 

The value of g varies in different latitudes, but for all 
practical purposes is taken as equal to 32.2. 

v 1 

The theoretical head=— 

The acceleration of gravity at latitude 45°=:32.i7 feet 
per second, being represented by g ; for any other lati¬ 
tude, /. 

g'—g (1 —0.002588 cos 2/) * 

If g represents the acceleration of gravity at the 
height //, and r the radius of the earth, the acceleration of 
gravity at the level of the sea equals 

*' =g { l + 7-) 

Flow of Water in Open Channels. —There is no 
generally accepted formula for determining the velocity 
of water in open channels. The tables based on the old 
formulas published prior to the works of D’Arcy and Ba¬ 
zin in France, and of Humphreys and Abbot in the 
United States, being founded on data which ignored the. 
important factor of the nature of the bed and the sides of 
the channel, have proved unsatisfactory. Hydraulic en- 

* See professional papers, Corps of Engineers U. S. A., No. 12, page 26. 



128 MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 

gineers have been compelled to rely for correctness of 
calculated results on the application of a combination of 
a few known laws with experimental data, which latter, 
though all-important, have been too restricted for the de¬ 
duction of a reliable mathematical theory. 

The formulas, in terms of dimensions of cross section 
and slope, are based upon the supposition of either “ per¬ 
manent ” or “ uniform ” motion. Permanent motion ap¬ 
proaches the condition of streams, permits changes of 
cross section and slope of the water-surface, excepting 
sudden bends, causing eddies and undulations, but de¬ 
mands that the discharge from the different sections should 
be identical. Uniform motion, in addition, requires an 
invariable cross section and constant slope of the fluid- 
surface. The general formulas based on permanent mo¬ 
tion differ from those restricted to uniform motion, “ by 
taking info account changes of living force produced by 
changes of cross section at the different points.” * If 
there are no variations, the difference between the for¬ 
mulas disappears. 

Chezy considered that the resistances encountered by 
water in uniform motion were in direct proportion to the 
length of the wetted perimeter, to the length of the chan¬ 
nel, and to the square of the mean velocity ; from which 
he deduced the formula, 

V — C p rs 

v is the mean velocity in feet per second. 
c a coefficient taken at a constant value. 
r the mean hydraulic radius in feet. 
s the fall of surface in a unit of length. 

_ • 

The equation indicates the relation of the mean veloci¬ 
ty to the slope and the mean hydraulic radius. The value 
of the coefficient c has been empirically demonstrated to 


* Humphreys and Abbot, Mississippi Report, p. 207. 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


129 


have a wide range. This formula, however, has been 
considered the simplest, and has been used by many engi¬ 
neers, different values being given to c, varying from 
84 to 100 for large streams, and being as low as 68 for 
small streams. “ Though there is abundant evidence," 
says H igham (p. 5), “ that the latter is much too high for 
low values of v in earthen channels, and that 100 is too 
low for very large rivers, as high a value as 254.4 having 
been deduced from the Mississippi observations.” 

D’Arcy and Bazin, by their experiments on channels of 
moderate section with limited variation of grades, proved 
that the coefficient c involved not only r and but also 
a constant for the different degrees of roughness of the 
channel, the formula being applicable within certain limits 
of inclination and values of r. 

Humphreys and Abbot make the velocity vary with 
the fourth root of the inclination, while Hagen assumes 
the velocity to vary with the sixth root. 

Ganguillet and Kutter considered that the Chezy 
formula, v—c \/ rSf was the correct point of departure, but 
that the coefficient should be made variable, involving 
not only r and s, but likewise a constant for different de¬ 
grees of roughness in the bed or channel. 

The final formula adopted by Ganguillet and Kutter, 
which within certain limits of inclination, and especially 
in regular channels, will give very satisfactory results, is 
the following: 


41.6+ 


1.811 

~aT 



0.00281 

s 


V — 



0.00281\ N 

s ) T r 


\ 





The coefficient of roughness, N, is dependent on the 
nature of the beds and sides. The useful values of this 
coefficient are as follows : 









130 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


Nature of Sides of Channel. Coefficient of Roughness. 

Well planed timber .iV=o.oog 

Plaster in pure cement. o.oio 

“ “ cement one-third sand. o.oii 

Unplaned timber. 0.012 

Ashlar and brick work. 0.013 

Canvas lining on frames. 0.015 


Rubble. .0.017 

Canals in very firm gravel. 0.020 

Rivers and canals in perfect order and regimen, and perfectly 

free from stones and weeds. 0.025 

Rivers and canals in moderately good order and regimen, having 

stones and weeds occasionally. 0.030 

Rivers and canals in bad order and regimen, overgrown with 

vegetation and strewn with stones or detritus of any sort.... 0.035 

Torrential streams encumbered with detritus. 0.050 


Ditches in California. —In the mining districts of 
California ditches are constructed boldly, with steep 
grades and on irregular lines with numerous sharp 
curves. The cross sections, originally uniform, become 
more or less varied. Absorption, percolation, evapora¬ 
tion, and leakage reduce the flow. A distinct, reliable 
factor for each of these sources of loss cannot well be in¬ 
corporated in the coefficient of discharge. If, then, it is 
intended to cover all of these common sources of loss by 
such a coefficient, its value must be a material modifica¬ 
tion of values commonly given in the text books. It 
would be certainly an affectation of accuracy to apply so 
complicated a formula as that of Kutter in such a case, 
since the modifying conditions, which can be estimated 
but roughly, call for a large reduction of the calculated 
result. This will be apparent from the measurements 
of discharge given further on. The simple formula, 

Q — ac V rs, expresses more fitly the result of experience 
in such cases, wherein— 

Q is the quantity of water which the ditch is capable of 
carrying in cubic feet per second. 
a the effective area of cross section of ditch, as origin¬ 
ally constructed, in square feet. 














MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 131 

r the hydraulic mean depth in feet. 
a the fall of surface in a unit of length. 
c a coefficient covering all common losses. 

Examples of Value of Coefficient in Ditches.— 

In its application to the North Bloomfield main ditch* 
(length 40 miles, sectional area 23.89 square feet, grade 16 
feet per mile), with its abrupt turns and sinuous course, 
the value of the coefficient c } as determined, varies from 
44.7 to 37.7 in accordance with the season of the year. 

The Texas Creek f branch ditch is about seven-tenths 
of a mile long. Its sectional area is 13.5 feet and the 
grade is 20 feet per mile. The sides are rough and the 
curves are sharp. With a flow of 32.8 cubic feet per sec¬ 
ond, the ditch runs about full. The value of c — 33. In 
connection with this ditch there is a rectangular flume 
2.67 feet wide X 2.83 feet deep, made of unplaned 
boards, set on a grade of 32 feet per mile. The flume 
has some sharp but regular curves, and the water from 
the ditch runs it nearly full at these points. With the 
discharge 32.8 cubic feet per second, c— 59. 

On the Milton line, from Milton to Eureka, a distance 
of 19.4 miles, the sectional area of the ditch is 20.39 square 
feet, grade 19.2 feet per mile for the earthwork and 32 
feet per mile for flume. The line is very irregular, hav¬ 
ing many drops and chutes. The distance from Milton 
to the measuring box at Blood)^ Run is 29^ miles. The 
minimum established grade for the last 10.1 miles was 16 
feet per mile, with a sectional area for the ditch of 23.05 
square feet. The coefficient c, determined from the gaug¬ 
ing at the measuring box, has varied from 22 in its leakiest 
condition to 31, which latter can be taken as correct for 
the present condition. In the succeeding 30 miles below 
the gauge, owing to a better character of ground, the co¬ 
efficient reaches 41. 

* Increased capacity of this ditch is limited by the pipes across Humbug Cafion. 

+ For details of Texas Creek ditch and flume see paper by Hamilton Smith, Jr., “ Trans¬ 
actions Am. Soc. C.E.,” vol. xiii. pp. 30 - 3 1 - 


132 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


The La Grange main ditch, 17 miles long, has a sec¬ 
tional area of 22.5 square feet, and a grade of 7 feet per 
mile. From the delivery, 56.5 cubic feet per second, at 
its Patricksville junction the coefficient c is determined to 
be 52, but it is based upon the assumption that the depth 
of the canal is 3 feet, whereas in the original construction 
it was supposed to have been made 4 feet deep; the dis¬ 
charge therefore due to such a sectional area would nec¬ 
essarily diminish the ascribed value of c* 

In all these canals, after the artificial banks are well 
consolidated, the water area is increased beyond the ori¬ 
ginal excavation in the natural ground. 

Accuracy cannot be expected in calculating the values 
of Q for proposed ditches of such character. Important 
losses must vary in every ditch, depending on the nature 
of the ground, and the character of the construction of 
the work, and the season of the year. The feeders along 
the lines largely compensate for these losses. In order to 
be safe in estimating the capacity of a ditch, the value of 
the coefficient c for the dry season should be taken. 

The following facts show the magnitude of the losses 
due to absorption, leakage, evaporation, etc. 

Three thousand miner’s inches of water (a flow of 75 
cubic feet per second) turned in during the dry season at 
the head of the Bloomfield ditch will deliver 2,700 inches 
(67.5 cubic feet per second) at the gauge 40 miles distant. 
2,400 inches of water (60 cubic feet per second) turned in 
at the head of the Milton ditch formerly delivered at the 
gauge, 29^ miles distant, 1,450 to 1,600 inches (36.25 to 40 
cubic feet per second); but at present 2,500 inches (62.5 
cubic feet per second) turned into the head of the ditch 
delivers 2,000 inches (50 cubic feet per second) at the 
gauge. The exact loss of water between the head of this 
ditch and the measuring box is shown in the following 


* The grades given in all the above cases, from which the different values of c were calcu¬ 
lated, are otherwise independent of the drops, chutes, flumes, etc. Sectional areas represent 
minimum cross sections. 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 133 

summary, taken from the official records for the month of 
August for the years 1875 to 1882 inclusive. This month 
is taken as a dry month, as prior to that time the nume¬ 
rous side streams swell the amount delivered at the 
gauge: 

RECORD FOR AUGUST. 

Water turned in at Milton, —Water record at Bloody Run.— 


Year. 24-hour inches. 24-hour inches. Per cent. 

lS 75 . 44,000 34.950 79-4 

18 76 . 59.700 42,625 71.3 

18 77 . 67,875 44,700 65.9 

18 7 8 . 76,050 58,875 77.4 

18 79 . 82,725 5L350 62.0 

1880 . 74,o8o 55,325 74-7 

1881 . 66,850 48,325 72.3 

1882 . 6S,30o 50,984 74.4 


The Eureka Lake ditch, with 2,500 inches turned in at 
the head, delivers at the gauge, 33 miles distant, about 
1,800 inches in the dry season. 

The above statistics lead to the adoption of values of 
the co-efficient c, varying from 31 to 45, in estimating the 
capacity of ditches* on heavy grades of forty miles length 
flowing from sixty to eighty cubic feet per second, such 
as referred to—that is : 

Q — 31 to 45 a Vrs 

The loss incurred in the distribution of water is de¬ 
noted by the following figures, taken from the official 
records of two mining companies. The amount received 
is measured at or near the distributing reservoirs; the 
amount used, at or near the pressure boxes. The differ¬ 
ence shows the losses from leakage, evaporation, absorp¬ 
tion, and wastage arising from excess of constant sup¬ 
ply over the amount needed, with interruptions at the 
claim : 


* These ditches are constructed on the rough mountain sides in rock more or less disin¬ 
tegrated. 


v 











134 


MEASUREMENT OF FLOWING WATER. 


NORTH BLOOMFIELD COMPANY (24-HOUR INCHES). 


Year. 

1870 to 1879, 
1880. 

lS8l* . 

1882 . 

1883 . 

Amount Received. 

inch. 5.838,865 

. 945.550 

. 950,340 

Amount Used. 

5 , 504,753 

920,612 

866,962 

1 , 005,977 

836,251 

Loss. 

334,107=6 per cent. 
24,938 = 2! “ 

83 , 378=9 

19,903 = 2 “ 
26,409 = 3 “ 

14 years. 

. 9,623,295 

9,134,560 

4S8,735 = 5 per cent. 


MILTON COMPANY 

(24-HOUR inches). 

1882. 

. 685,933 

635,884 

50,049= 7 per cent. 

18S3+. 

. 446,224 

361,877 

84,347 = 19 

2 years. 

. 1 . 132,157 

997,761 

134,396 = 13 per cent. 


♦Much water ran to waste during four months, owing to cessation of work caused by 
litigation. 

t English reservoir, from which source the main water-supply was obtained, was de¬ 
stroyed June 18, 1883. 


















CHAPTER X. 


DITCHES AND FLUMES. 

DITCHES. 

The demand for water throughout the mining districts 
has caused the construction of thousands of miles of 
ditches. The cost of these has been immense, but the 
returns on legitimate enterprises have well repaid the 
capital invested. On account of the rugged character of 
the country traversed by the ditch lines, in order to lessen 
the cost and expedite the work, steep grades were used, 
high trestles were built (in some instances supporting 
large flumes at elevations of two hundred to two hundred 
and fifty feet), and wrought-iron pipes were introduced 
for conveying the water across the valleys and canons. 
The boldness with which these works were undertaken 
was characteristic of their originators. 

Location and Construction Principles. —In lo¬ 
cating and constructing ditches the following rules should 
be observed : 

(1) The source of supply should be at sufficient eleva¬ 
tion to cover the greatest range of mining ground at the 
smallest expense, great hydrostatic pressure being always 
desirable. 

(2) An abundant and permanent supply of water dur- 
1112: the summer months should be secured. 

(3) The snow line, when possible, should be avoided, 
and the ditch, especially in snow regions, located so as to 
have a southern exposure. 

(4) All water-courses on the line of the ditch should 
be secured ; their supply partially counteracts the loss by 

evaporation, leakage, and absorption, and frequently fur- 

135 


I3 6 


DITCHES. 


nishes an additional quantum of water during several 
months of the year. 

(5) At proper intervals waste-gates should be arranged 
so as to discharge the water, when necessary, without 
risk of damage to the ditch. In regions of heavy snow 
these waste-ways should be provided at intervals not 
greater than one-half a mile. 

(6) Ditches, when practicable and the cost not being 
excessive, should be preferred to flumes. 

Surveying a Ditch Dine. —In the preliminary ex¬ 
amination for the location of a long ditch, by means of 
careful comparative observations made with good aneroid 
barometers, the elevations not only of the termini, but also 
of intermediate points from which different surveying 
parties can .start on the subsequent location of the line, 
can be approximately determined. 

The various necessary points once established by sur¬ 
vey, the line is staked. In levelling, all turning points 
should be made on grade. The stations should be pro¬ 
perly numbered and staked, and pegs driven to grade. 
Every four or five stations the rodman should be required 
to call off the reading of the rod, which is checked by the 
notes of the surveyors. Stations may be from fifty to 
one hundred feet apart on ordinary ground, but a very 
irregular country demands shorter intervals, sometimes 
of a rod only. Bench marks should be placed every one- 
fourth or one-half mile for convenient reference. 

All details of tunnels, cuts, and depressions which re¬ 
quire fluming or piping should be worked out in full. In 
this work the hand level can often be employed with ad¬ 
vantage. Complete notes should be made of the charac¬ 
ter of the ground along the entire line, and also of any 
possible changes. 

The size of a ditch is regulated by its requirements. 
Its form will be modified often by circumstances of which 
the engineer is the judge. The smallest section for any 
given discharge is when the hydraulic mean depth is one- 


DITCHES. 


137 


half of the actual depth. As a general proposition, this is 
the most economical form of profile for water-channels 
with given side slopes. The amount of excavation is the 
least in that channel where the wetted perimeter for a 
given area is the smallest. In practice the forms common¬ 
ly adopted for ditches and flumes are trapezoidal and rect¬ 
angular. 

With rectangular profiles the resistance due to friction 
is the smallest when the width is twice the height. 

Of trapezoidal profiles, the half of a regular hexagon is 
generally used in canals and ditches. 

Circular and square profiles are employed only in 
stone, wood, and iron constructions. 

Narrow and Deep vs. Broad and Shallow 
Ditches. —In a mountainous country narrow and deep 
ditches with steep grades will generally be found prefer¬ 
able to large conduits with gentler slopes. The first cost 
of excavation is much less, as is also the cost of repairs 
rendered necessary by snows and severe storms, the nar¬ 
rower aqueduct being more easily protected. The ex¬ 
perience of the ditch-builders in this State has been uni¬ 
formly favorable to these steep grades, but little trouble 
being caused by the washing of the banks due to high 
velocities. In the valleys with ashy soil such grades, of 
course, would not be practicable. 

Ditches in California with carrying capacities as large 
as 80 cubic feet per second have been built, and are now 
in successful operation, with grades of sixteen to twenty 
feet per mile. 

Excavating the Ditcli. —Before the work of exca¬ 
vating is commenced the line is cleared of trees and un- 
derbrush for a sufficient width to render work afterwards 
easy and to prevent subsequent damage to the ditch. All 
trees which are liable to fall and injure the work should 
be removed before construction begins. O11 a flume line 
the brush for at least ten feet on each side is burned as a 
precaution against fire. So far as possible, and especially 


DITCHES. 


138 

along a side hill, the ditch should be dug so as to have 
walls of solid, untouched ground, and not made banks. 
The top of the solid bank on the lower side should be fully 
three feet wide. In such cases the top soil is first re¬ 
moved for the width of the ditch and bank ; the material 
excavated to form the ditch is used to raise the lower 
bank, and in time consolidates to firm ground, thus in¬ 
creasing the capacity of the ditch. 

The digging of ditches is usually let by contract at a 
given sum per rod, and heavy cuts per cubic yard. It is 
customary to excavate large ditches with a slope of 6o° 
for the upper and 65° for the lower bank. These slopes, 
of course, the engineer will vary in accordance with the 
ground encountered. In practice they are changed even¬ 
tually by erosion and denudation; but experience seems 
to warrant the above-mentioned slopes as the best to be 
adopted in laying out such works. 

In large mining ditches constructed with high grades 
and running large amounts of water, the erosion and con¬ 
sequent enlargement of the ditch (when kept in order) is 
noticeable; moreover, the banks gradually become solidi¬ 
fied, and thereby the loss by leakage and absorption is de¬ 
creased. It is roughly estimated that the capacity of a 
well-constructed ditch which is properly kept up is in¬ 
creased about 10 per cent, in eight years. 

Ditches poorly built in the beginning subsequently 
require large and constant expenditures, and lose con¬ 
siderable amounts of water. The annual cost of running 
and maintaining large ditches, including all repairs and 
taxes, is estimated to be $400 per mile. 

Examples of Ditches. —Among the principal ditches 
in the State are the North Bloomfield, the Milton, the 
Eureka Lake, the San Juan, the South Yuba Canal, the 
Excelsior or China ditch, the Bouyer, the Union, the El 
Dorado, the Spring Valley and Cherokee, the Hendricks 
and the La Grange. 

North Bloomfield. —The North Bloomfield main 


DITCHES. 


139 



ditch, including distributers, is fifty-five miles long. Its 
size is 8.65 feet on top, 5 feet at bottom, and 3^ feet deep. 
The ditch and distributers cost $466,707. Its grade is six¬ 
teen feet per mile, discharging 3,200 miner’s inches. 

Milton Com¬ 
pany. —The Milton 
Company’s ditch¬ 
es are eighty-four 
miles long, and their 
grades are from 
twelve to thirty- 
two feet to the mile. 

The size of the main 
ditch is 4 feet on 
the bottom, 7.6 feet 
on top, and 3^2 feet 

deep, discharging 3,000 miner’s inches ; cost, $462,998. 


Fig. 9. North Bloomfield Main Ditch. 
Grade, 16 ft. per mile. Sec., 23.89 sq. ft. 



Fig. 10. The Milton Ditch. 

Eureka Lake. —3 he Eureka Lake main ditch is 
eighteen miles long and has a capacity of 2,500 miner’s 








140 


DITCHES. 


inches. Its cost, including water rights and flumes, was 
$256,000. The San Juan ditch and branches extend some 
forty-five miles in length ; the main ditch is thirty-two 
miles long, and its capacity is 1,300 miner’s inches. The 
cost was $292,992. These two last mentioned ditches be¬ 
long to the Eureka Lake and Yuba Canal Company. 

South Yuba Canal Company. —The main ditch of 
the South Yuba Canal Company (from the head of Bear 
River) is one and one-half miles long, six feet wide on top, 
and five feet deep, with a grade of thirteen feet per mile. 
Its present capacity is said to be 7,000 miner’s inches. 
From Bear Valley (the junction of the main and the Dutch 
Flat ditches) the size of the canal for the succeeding 
thirty-one and one-half miles is six feet wide on top, four 
and one-half feet deep, with a grade of eight feet to the mile. 
The Dutch Flat ditch is thirteen miles long ; it is six and 
one-half feet wide on top, four feet deep, and has a grade 
of thirteen and one-half feet per mile. The capacity of this 
ditch is 3,150 miner’s inches. The Chalk Bluff ditch is 
six feet wide on top and five feet deep, with a grade of 
sixteen feet per mile, and has a capacity of 4,100 miner’s 
inches. The several ditches owned by the South Yuba 
Company have an aggregate length of one hundred and 
twenty-eight miles. 

Smartsville Ditches. —The Excelsior, or China, 
ditch at Smartsville is thirty-three miles long, five feet 
wide at the bottom and eight feet on top, and is four feet 
deep. The grade is nine feet to the mile, and the ditch 
discharges 1,700 Smartsville miner’s inches. 

The Bouyer and Union ditches are each about fifteen 
miles long, four feet wide on the bottom, eight feet on 
top, and three and one-half feet deep. Their grades are 
thirteen feet to the mile, and each discharges 1,200 Smarts¬ 
ville miner’s inches. 

There are several minor ditches which deliver wa¬ 
ter in and around Smartsville. The total capacity of all 
these ditches is 5,000 Smartsville miner’s inches, and the 


DITCHES. 


141 


whole investment in this class of property approximates 
$1,200,000. 

Spring Valley. —The Spring- Valley and Cherokee 
ditch is hfty-two miles long and has about four miles of 
iron pipe thirty inches in diameter. The size of the ditch 
averages five feet wide, three and one-half feet deep, dis¬ 
charging about 2,000 inches of water. 




Fig. 12. Section of Wall Ditch on Line of La Grange 
Mining Company’s Ditch. 


Hendricks.— The Hendricks ditch, in Butte County, 
is forty-six and one-half miles long; grade of the upper 
line of ditch, 12.8 feet per mile ; grade of the lower line, 
6.4 feet per mile; dimensions, 5 feet wide, 2 feet deep. 

















142 


FLUMES. 



Total cost, including Glen Beatson ditch and Oregon 
Gulch ditch, $136,150.* 

La Grange. —The La Grange ditch,f including the 
Patricksville branch, is over twenty miles in length. 

Size, nine feet on top, 
six feet at the bottom, 
four feet deep; grade, 
from seven to eight 
feet to the mile. The 
greater part of the 
ditch is cut in granite, 
and in places there are 
solid stone walls fifty 
to seventy feet high. 
It discharged 2,400 mi¬ 
ner’s inches at the date of last measurement, and its cost 
was over $450,000. Its capacity was formerly larger, but 
the ditch is now in a bad condition. 


Fig. 13. 


La Grange Flume, 
at Indian Bar. 


Crossing 


FLUMES. 

In general, the use of flumes is to be avoided where- 
ever possible, long experience demonstrating that they 
are not economical, being too liable to destruction from 
fire, wind and snow storms, and by decay. Hence they 
are a source of continuous expense. 

Flumes vs. Ditches. —There are instances where 
the formation of the country requires the use of flumes 
rather than ditches ; for example, where the water must 
be conveyed along the face of vertical cliffs, as in the case 
of the Miocene Gold-Mining Company in Butte County. 
There are also certain conditions of the formation of the 
ground, independent of the topography, where a ditch 
cannot be employed so economically as a flume—viz., 
when the ground is composed of either very hard or very 

* See Raymond’s Report, 1873, pages 73 and 74. 

t The original ditch, about nineteen miles long, is said to have cost $375,000. Since its 
completion the Patricksville ditch and reservoir have been built at a cost of $75,000. 



































FLUMES. 


143 


porous and shattered material. Likewise where water is 
scarce and the evaporation and absorption are great, 
flumes must necessarily be preferred. In such cases 
as these either flumes or pipes may be advantageously 
used. 

Grades. — Flumes are set, where practicable, on 
grades of twenty-live to thirty-five feet per mile, and are 
consequently of proportionately smaller area than ditches. 

The annexed sketch shows the general style of con¬ 
structing flumes. 

Planking. —The 
planking used ordi¬ 
narily is of heart su¬ 
gar pine (seasoned) 
one and one-half to 
two inches thick, 
twelve to twenty-four 
inches wide, accord¬ 
ing to the require¬ 
ments, and twelve to 
sixteen feet long, the 
twelve-foot length be¬ 
ing the most desirable. 

Sills and Posts. 

—Where the boards 
join, pine battens 
three to four inches 
wide, one-half inch 
thick, cover the seams 
Sills, posts, and caps 
strengthen the structure every four feet. The dimensions 
of the timbers depend on the size of the flume. A flume 
two and one-half feet square requires 3X4 inch scantling 
for posts, caps, and sills, and 4X6 inch for the stringers; 
while a flume 4X3 feet in the clear should use 4X5 inch 
stuff for the caps and posts, sills 4X6 inches, with string¬ 
ers 10X8 inches in size. These sizes are used in regions 
























144 


FLUMES. 


of heavy snow, and can be reduced somewhat in milder 
localities. 

The width of the flume regulates the length of the 
sills and caps, and the length ot the posts is determined 
by the depth of the flume, three inches or less being 
allowed between the top of the planks and the cap. In 
larger flumes these different sizes are slightly increased. 

The posts should be set into the caps and sills with a 
gain of one and one-fourth inch, and not mortised. The 
sills generally extend from twelve to twenty inches be¬ 
yond the post (according to the size of the structure), 
and to them side braces are nailed to strengthen the 
structure, although these side braces are generally unne¬ 
cessary in properly constructed flumes. In the mountain 
regions snow and ice frequently attach themselves to the 
braces and sills, breaking them off and occasionally de¬ 
stroying the flume. On top of the caps there is placed a 
foot plank eight to ten inches in width. 

Flumes should be placed on a solid bed on the re¬ 
quired grade. To avoid damage from slides, or snow and 
wind storms, the bed should be excavated in the bank of 
the side hills and the flume placed close to the bank. 
Stringers running the entire length of the flume are 
placed beneath the sills immediately outside of the posts. 
They are not absolutely necessary, but are desirable, as 
they preserve the sill timbers from decay. 

Curves. —When curves are necessary they should be 
laid with great care, so as to insure the maximum flow of 
water. The boxes must be cut in two, three, or four 
parts, as the case may demand. This necessitates an in¬ 
crease in the number of sills, posts, and caps. To secure 
the better curving of the side planks they are sawed par¬ 
tially through in different places, so that they bend easily, 
the sawed portions closing thoroughly by the curving of 
the plank. 

To distribute the water equally over the entire flume 
and prevent slack water, irregular currents, and splash- 


FLUMES. 


H5 


ing, the outer side of the flume is raised in accordance 
with the curve. No rule can be given for the exact 
amount of rise, but it can be readily determined by 
wedging up the flume. This is very essential in cold 
climates, as ice forms where any splashing occurs. * 

Waste-Gates. —Waste-gates should be placed every 
half-mile, so that the water can be readily turned out, as 
may be required from time to time, and are especially 
necessary in case of any accident. They should dis¬ 
charge the water clear of the line to prevent any under¬ 
mining. They are useful also for clearing the canal of 
snow and ice. 

Precautions against Cold. —In the snow belt the 
flumes are covered with sheds in the most dangerous 
places where they are exposed to snow slides. The most 
approved form of snow shed consists of sets of timber 
4X6 inches to 7X9 inches in size, placed at intervals of 
four feet and covered with boards or lagging. Where 
the flume is set in close to the bank the circulation ol air 
around it during the winter is partially prevented by 
snow, and freezing of the water is not so probable as 
where the flume is exposed on all sides. 

Great difficulty is experienced sometimes in keeping 
flumes and ditches open during long continued very 
cold weather, on account of the formation of anchor ice 
on the bottom. When this occurs it is necessary imme¬ 
diately to turn out the water, otherwise they will fill up 
solidly with ice and remain closed until spring. Should 
snow fill the flume when empty, it can be readily run out 
if the water is turned on before it is allowed to pack. 

In Nevada County, at the head of the Bloomfield ditch, 
the snow falls in depths of from six to thirteen feet on a 
level. The temperature ranges as low as zero, but ordi- 
narilv has a winter mean of 30° Fahr. The Bloomfield 
ditch, carrying 80 cubic feet of water per second, is sel¬ 
dom troubled by the forming of ice or snow blockades. 
This ditch is supplied from a reservoir, the water of 


I46 FLUMES. 

which is of a temperature of 36° Fahr. The canal for 
the first twenty miles collects but little snow even during 
heavy storms ; in the lower twenty miles, the water hav¬ 
ing become more chilled, snow collects rapidly at times, 
and the ditch has upon a few occasions been blockaded. 

Other ditches in the same locality, of nearly equal ca¬ 
pacity, but lying on the cold north hillsides and drawing 
water from creeks and rivers, have great difficulty in 
running water in cold, stormy winters, owing to the 
formation of ice, snow slides, and snow blockades. 

The head of the Milton ditch being on the north side 
of a cold canon, the temperature at times falls as low as 
— 2i° Fahr. Notwithstanding this excessive cold, the ditch 
is kept open the greater part of the winter when there is a 
sufficient supply of water, and with a flow of 80 cubic feet 
per second probably but little difficulty would be experi¬ 
enced in keeping up a constant supply. 

Experience in the Black Hills. —In the winter of 
1879-80, on the line of the Wyoming and Dakota Water 
Company’s open flume, at the head of the Spearfish River 
in the Black Hills, Dakota, with the mercury ranging from 
5 ° to 35° (Fahr.) below zero, no difficulty was experienced 
in running the water a distance of about six miles (the 
portion then finished) during the entire season, the tempe¬ 
rature of the water varying from 42 0 to 35 0 Fahr. 

On one occasion the thermometer reached 43 0 below 
zero, as indicated by the spirit thermometers, the mercu¬ 
rial thermometers bursting at — 42 0 Fahr. The temperature 
of the water at this time fell to 35 0 Fahr. The extreme 
cold lasted but a few hours, still no ice formed in the 
flume. The water (a continuous flow of 350 cubic feet 
per minute) in the flume was drawn directly from the 
Spearfish River (supplied at the upper end by springs), 
which was at this season frozen over. The water did 
not freeze because the flume was well protected and 
set in close to the bank, thus allowing no circulation 
of air under the sills, the outer ends being covered with 


CROSS SECTION OF FLUME 


GROSS SECTION OF DITCH 



PROFILE OF THE 


SPEARFISH DITCH, 


CAPACITY. 

Grade, C.4' per mile,. 750' min. Inch. 


10 ' 

12.4’ 


910 

* 1027 





Stru Lera, Smou & Co., E^ugr's, N. Y. 1000 

id MILES 


0 2 4 6 

Weights oj Syphons do not include Weights of Rivets 






















































































































































































FLUMES. 


147 


snow ; the boxes were set to an exact grade and the 
curves were constructed carefully, so that along the en¬ 
tire line there was no splashing or slack water or irregu¬ 
lar currents ; and, furthermore, the water, coming from 
springs, was warm and the distance run was short. 

The Wyoming and Dakota Water Company’s main 
conduit from Spearfish was designed with the view of 
conveying water to the mining camps of Deadwood, Cen¬ 
tral, and Lead. The total length of the projected line to 
its main distributing point was thirty-five miles, consisting 
of twenty-six miles of flume (including a mile of tunnel 
and approaches) ; two and three-fourth miles of twenty- 
two-inch diameter wrought-iron pipe for inverted si¬ 
phons, crossing depressions from thirty-four feet to seven 
hundred and sixty-eight feet; thirty-five hundred feet of 
trestle-work (the longest piece being three hundred and 
ninety feet long and seventy-five feet high), and the re¬ 
maining portion of the line was to have been ditched. 
The capacity of the conduit was estimated at 1,000 twenty- 
four-hour miner’s inches. The principal supply was to 
have been drawn from a reservoir at the head of the 
Spearfish River, and additional amounts were to have 
been obtained from seven different tributarie-s or feeders 
along the line of work. 

Owing to conflicting interests and litigation this ex¬ 
tensive work was never completed. The accompanying 
plan (Fig. 15) is a profile of the projected line, showing 
the grade, depressions, and work completed in 1879. 

Details of Construction. —In constructing a line 
of flume, the bed being prepared, the stringers are put in 
place and the sills laid on them four feet apart. The bot¬ 
tom planks (the ends being sawed off square) are then 
nailed to the sills, the end joints being carefully fitted. 
The side planks are nailed to the bottom planks and to 
the posts, which last are set in a gain in the sills, an occa¬ 
sional cap in the beginning being placed on the posts to 
hold the flume in shape. The size of the nails for planks, 


148 


FLUMES. 


posts, and caps depends on the thickness of the material, 
sixteen-penny and twenty-penny nails being those gene¬ 
rally used. The battens are securely fastened over the 
various joints or seams with six-penny nails. Each box 
as completed is carefully set on the established grade and 
firmly held in position with wooden wedges. The remain¬ 
ing caps are put on whenever convenient. 

Where a flume connects with a ditch the posts for a 
distance of several boxes back are lengthened sufficiently 
to permit of the introduction of an additional plank on 
each side. The end boxes of the flume are flared, to per¬ 
mit a free entrance and discharge of the water. An outer 
siding, nailed to the posts, at the junction with a ditch, or 
wherever else a bank of earth is passed through, protects 
the flume and also strengthens it materially. 

When large amounts of lumber are to be used, it is oc¬ 
casionally economical for a company to erect a portable 
saw-mill and cut out the lumber. In most cases, how¬ 
ever, it is cheaper to contract for the material required. 

All lumber should be inspected and measured by a 
competent scaler, whose duty it is to reject all knotty, 
sap, wind-shaken stuff, and slabs. As only dimension stuff 
is used, everything should be prepared at the mills of the 
exact sizes required, so that the flume can be constructed 
as rapidly as the material is received. 

The material should be delivered at the head of the 
flume, or at such convenient places as the engineer may 
direct. Lumber stored should be carefully piled, and 
spaced so as to permit a free circulation of air through 
the material. 

Sufficient water is generally obtained along the line of 
work, and is turned into the flume as fast as constructed, 
to assist in the delivery of the lumber which is floated. 
A few inches’ depth of water is all that is necessarv. One 
or two or more men are required to attend to the floating 
of the material, according to the distance. 

As occasion may demand, the flume is trestled, the 


FLUMES. 


149 


main supports being - placed every eight to twelve feet. 
The lumber, scantling, and struts for bents are used in 
accordance with the demands of the work. The founda¬ 
tions must be made secure to hold the superstructure, 
and no mortises used, heavy spikes and strong timber 
and braces being sufficient. Guy ropes are employed 
when necessary to prevent any vibration or movement 
of the flume caused by severe wind storms. 

It is the usual practice to distribute along the line of 
a ditch and flume a certain amount of lumber, to be 
ready, in case of accident, for repairing any breaks. 
Breaks on ditch lines, especially during the winter, are 
repaired more easily with pieces of flume than with dirt. 
A supply of ten per cent, of lumber is not an excessive 
amount to have on hand. The life of a flume, under the 
best of circumstances and care, will not exceed twenty 
years, and generally not over half that time. 

Lumber. —The following tables show the amount of 
lumber required in the construction of twelve-foot flume- 
boxes of different widths and depths : 


TABLE IX. 

Flume two and one-half feet wide , two and one-half feet deep; twelve-foot box. 


3 Caps, 4 feet longX 3 inches X 4 inches. = 12 feet b.m. 


6 Posts, 3 “ 

« 4 

X 3 

4 4 

X 4 

4 4 

_ - IS 

4 4 

4 4 





( 6 

4 4 




9 Planks, 12 “ 

a 

X OA 

4 ( 

x L 

4 4 

.... =135 

4 4 

4 4 

3 Sills, 434 “ 

i i 

X 4 

4 4 

X 4 

4 4 

... - iS 

4 4 

4 4 

2 Stringers, 12 “ 

<« 

X 4 

« 4 

X 6 

4 4 

.... - 43 

44 

4 4 

6 Battens, 12 “ 

< 4 

X 3 

4 4 

X 1 

4 4 

_ - 18 

4 4 

4 4 

1 Foot plank, 12 “ 

4 4 

Xio 

4 4 

x ik 

/ a 

.... = 15 

4 4 

4 4 


Total lumber in one box.. 
Number of boxes per mile 


264 feet b.m. 
440 












FLUMES. 


150 

TABLE X. 

Flume four feet wide , three feet deep; txvelve-foot box. 

Planks, 2 inches thick, 12 feet long. =240 feet b.m. 

6 Posts, 4 inchesX 5 inchesX 3 feet 9 inches long.. = 38 “ “ 


3 Caps, 4 

“ X 5 

X 6 

* 4 

long. 

- =30 “ 

4 4 

3 Sills, 4 

“ X 6 “ 

X 8 

< < 

4 4 

. “ 48 “ 

4 4 

2 Stringers, 8 

“ xio “ 

X12 

4 < 

4 4 


4 4 

6 Battens, 3 

“Xi 

X12 

4 4 

4 4 

_ - 18 “ 

*4 

1 Foot plank, 10 

“ X IX “ 

X12 

4 4 

<« 


4 4 


Total lumber in one box. 549 feet b.m. 


TABLE XI. 

Flume seven feet wide , four feet deep; txvelve-foot box. 

Planks, V/2 inches thick, 12 feet long. =270 feet b.m. 


6 Posts, 

4 inchesX 6 inchesX 4 feet 

4 inches long. = 52 “ 

3 Caps, 

4 

“ X 6 

4 4 

X 9 “ 

4 “ “ = 56 “ 

3 Sills, 

4 

“ X 8 

i 4 

X10 feet 

long. =80 “ 

2 Stringers, 

8 

“ X12 

4 4 

X12 “ 

“ . —192 “ 

8 Battens, 

3 

“ X I 

44 

X12 “ 

“ . — 24 “ 

1 Foot plank, 

10 

“ X IX 

4 4 

X12 “ 

“ . - 15 “ 


Total lumber in one box.. 689 feet b.m. 

Bracket Flume. — A novel method of carrying 
flumes along the face of precipitous cliffs has been de¬ 
signed by W. H. Bellows and adopted on the line of the 
Miocene Mining Company’s ditch in Butte County, to 
avoid the construction of a trestle-work one hundred and 
eighty-six feet high. 

The line of ditch was run some two hundred yards up 
the canon, abutting against a perpendicular wall of ba¬ 
saltic rock, along the face of which, one hundred and 
eighteen feet above the bed of the ravine and two hun¬ 
dred and thirty-two feet below the top of the cliff, the 
flume was carried on brackets for a distance of four hun¬ 
dred and eighty-six feet. Fig. 16 gives a general view, 
and Fig. 17 shows the method of hanging the flume. 

The brackets are made of T-rails of thirty-pound rail¬ 
road iron bent into the form of an L. The longer arm. 

























Fig. 16. Bracket Flume of Miocene Mining Company’s Ditch, Butte Co., Cal. 


FLUMES 


151 






























































































































152 


FLUMES 




Fig. 17. Method of Hanging Flume to Cliff by Iron Brackets. 















































































































































































































FLUMES. 


153 


ten feet long, is placed horizontally (for the bed of the 
flume to rest on), with its end supported in a hole drilled 
in the rock. The shorter arm, two feet long, stands 
vertically and has at its upper end an eye into which 
hooks a suspender of three-fourth-inch round iron, which 
in turn is fastened above to the rock by means of a ring¬ 
bolt soldered into a hole drilled for the purpose. The 
brackets are set eight feet apart, and were tested to sus¬ 
tain a weight of fourteen and one-half tons. The flume is 
four feet wide and three feet deep, inside measurements, 
and has a capacity of 3,000 miner’s inches. 

The general view shows a trestle eighty-six feet high. 
Along - the line of the ditch there is a trestle one thousand 
and eighty-eight feet long and eighty feet high ; another 
has been built one hundred and thirty-six feet high. The 
total length of ditch and flume is thirty-three and one- 
third miles. 

Details and Costs of Milton Ditch and Flumes. 

—The following official statement shows the details and 
cost of construction of the Milton ditch and flumes from 
Eureka to Milton Dam. 

Built by the North Bloomfield Gold-Mining Company in the years of 
1872-3-4. 

Lengths. 

Eureka to South Fork. 563 chains = 7.04 miles. 

South Fork to Drop-off.. 0 “ — 1 - 2 ° “ 

Drop-off to Milton... 894 “ =11.17 u 

Total.1,553 chains=i9.4i miles, 

= 102,484 feet, 

measured from head of Eureka drop-off to Milton dam. 


Flumes. 

Eureka to South Fork. 961 twelve-foot boxes = say, 11,536 feel. 

South Fork to Big Bluffs. 264 “ “ “ = “ 3 ,i6S “ 

Big Bluffs to Milton. 1,113 “ “ “ = “ T 3,352 “ 

Total.2,338 twelve-foot boxes = say, 28,056 feet. 


The above 2,338 boxes include 56 boxes of flume built in the ditch, most of 
which is supported by heavy cribbing. 














154 


FLUMES. 


Waste-Ways. 

Eureka to South Fork. 14 wastes, aggregating 112 feet. 

South Fork to Big Bluffs. 12 “ *' 48 “ 

Big Bluffs to Milton. 24 “ “ 114 “ 

Total. 50 wastes, aggregating 274 feet. 

There are also several branch flumes, one large crossing flume, and about 
one hundred and thirty feet of ditch lining. 

TABLE XII. 


Cost of Milton Ditch, from Milton to Eureka , 19-41 miles . 

Excavation , etc. 


Ditch. 

Flume Foun¬ 
dation . 

Clearing Line 

Dis¬ 

tance. 

Labor. 

Explo¬ 

sives. 

Tools. 

Steel. 

Coal. 

Totals. 

Miles. 
14.1 

5-3 

19.4 

$69,664 92 

15,013 4 ° 

3,582 01 

$4,098 46 

2.866 72 

$1,606 67 

525 50 

90 00 

$319 48 

213 OO 

$953 38 

301 II 

$76,642 91 

18,919 73 

3,672 01 


19.4 

$88,260 33 

$6,96518 

$2,222 17 

$532 48 

$1,254 49 

$ 99> 2 34 65 


Elume. 

Lumber, etc., Milton to Feet, 
lower end Big Bluffs. . 1,083,434 

Less sold to Milton Feet. 

Company. 200,000 883,434 

Eureka to Big Bluffs, 1,225 boxes 765,911 

Total on hand and used for 2,338 

boxes. 1,649*345 $32,015 28 

Note .—Of the above amount of 883,434 
feet it is supposed that there is on hand, 
say, 130,000 feet, thus leaving 750,000 
feet as the amount used for 1,113 boxes 
from Milton to lower end of the bluffs. 

Timbers cut by hand, stringers, posts, etc. 1,301 49 

Hauling timber to Milton, Little Poor 

Man’s, etc. 1,650 00 

-134,966 77 


Carry forward 


$134,201 42 









































FLUMES. 


155 


TABLE XII.— continued. 

Brought forward.$134,201 42 

Carpenters, etc. 


Gang. 

Boxes 
12ft. long. 

Labor. 

Nails and 
Iron. 

Tools. 

Totals. 


Young. 


$10,902 81 

$L 499 57 

$50 00 

$12,452 38 


Marriott. 

Ui 93 

10,497 90 

i ,559 57 

50 00 

12,107 47 



2,338 

$21,400 71 

$3,059 14 

$100 00 

$ 24,559 85 

$ 2 4>559 85 


General Cost. 


Surveys. —Engineer (who was also fore¬ 
man) and assistants. $4,610 50 

Roads. —South Fork to Bow¬ 
man’s, 3^ miles.$1,200 00 

South Fork to Little Poor 

Man’s, 2^ miles. 200 00 

-1,400 00 

Hauling. —Transportation of tools, mate¬ 
rial, and men. 1,450 94 

Boarding. —Loss in boarding laborers, who 

were charged 75 cents per day. 685 75 

General Expense. —Being a portion of North 
Bloomfield Gravel - Mining Company’s 
cost of management, office, taxes, etc., 
while ditch was being built. 3,564 63 

Damages. 

Eureka Lake Company—damage to it by breaking its 
miner’s ditch by blasts. 


11,711 82 


L635 87 


Total cost.$172,108 96 

Collected from Milton Company for account extra 

work. 689 30 


Leaving Milton Ditch account (November 10, 1874) 

on Company’s books.$171,419 66 






































156 


FLUMES. 


Note .—If the 130,000 feet of lumber supposed to be at Milton 
is sold for cost ($20 per thousand), the total cost of the ditch 
will be reduced to $169,508 96, or, say, $8,700 per mile. In 
that event— 


Cost per foot , etc. 

Ditch. —74,442 feet long, cost for, say, 117,600 cubic yards, 
$76,642 91, or 65 cents per cubic yard, or $1 03 per lin. foot. 
Flume. —28,056 feet long, cost for excavation 
$18,919 73, or 67 cents per lin. foot.... 
cost for lumber, labor, etc., $59,526 62, or 
$2 12 per i;n. foot. 


y $2 79 per lin. foot. 


The ditch is graded in from slope pegs from 6 to 36 



Grade 32 'jper Mila . 


Mode of securing a flume 
on the Mountain side. 


Fig. 18. Milton Flume. 




inches. The general grade is 19.2 feet per mile. All trees 
within 15 to 25 feet of the edge of the upper bank are cut. 











































TABLE XIII. 


Name of Ditch. 


North Bloomfield Main (and distributers). 

Milton.. . 

Eureka Lake, Main Ditch *. 

Eureka Lake, Miner’s Ditch.. 

San Juan, Main Ditch. 

San Juan, Branches. 

'Main Ditch, Upper Part.. 

Main Ditch, to head of Deer Creek. 

Main Ditch, from Junction with Dutch Flat Ditch 

Dutch Flat Ditch. 

Blue Tent Branch. 

Chalk Bluff Ditch. 

Cascade Ditch. 

Snow Mountain Ditch. 

Total South Yuba Canal Co. 

Blue Tent Co.’s Ditch . 

China Ditch. 

^ Bouyer Ditch. 

H I Union Ditch. . 


CJ 


W Total Excelsior Ditches and Branches. 
Hendrick’s Ditch t. 


Spring Valley and Cherokee. 

La Grange.. 

Tuolumne Co. Water Co. % . 

( Main Ditch.. 

El Dorado Co. < 

( Branches .... 

California Water and Mining Co. % 

Park Canal Co. % . 

Amador Canal Co., Main % . 

Amador Canal Co.. Lateral X . 


Dimensions and Costs of Ditches (including Flumes'). 


Length. 

Miies. 

Capacity. 

Grade. 

Dimensions in Feet. 




Miner’s 

Feet per 




Cost. 


Remarks. 





Inches. 

Mile. 

Top. 

Bottom. 

Depth. 










3 % 



Only 4,000 feet have a grade of 12 feet. 

55 

3,200 

12 tO l6 

8.63 

5 

$466,707 

1 

but with increased area ; the rest 
has a grade of 16 feet. 


63 

3,000 

16 to 32 

7-65 

4 

3 J4 

462,998 



54 

2,500 





430*250 

1 

Smaller ditches and water-rights cost 
$89,227 additional. 

25 

700 

9.60 

5 

3 

2 

180,000 



3 2 

1,236 

9.60 

9 to 16 

6 

4 

3 

V 292,992 



13 

700 to 1,500 

6 

4 

3 

) 




7,000 

17 

8 

8 

6 



This is a flume. 

17 

5,200 

*3 

8 

6 

5 




3'Vt 


8 

6 

.... 

454 




>3 

3,100 

13 'A 

6'A 

4 

5 



The South Yuba Canal Co.’s inch is 

13 

2,300 

»3 

> 





measured through a 4-inch aperture 


4 

4 



in a iJ4-inch plank, with a head of 6 

i,3 

2,700 

l6 

6 

4 

4 



inches above centre of aperture. 

25 

1,600 

12 

5 

4 

4 




123 

1,800 

12 

6 

5 

4 

1,100,000 


Flumes are 5'wideX4'deep. The inch 

3 2 'A 

1,800 

IO 

8 

8 

6 

4 

250,000 


has a head of 5 inches to centre of 
2-inch aperture. 

33 

1,700 

9 

5 

4 




15 

1,200 

x 3 

8 

8 

4 

3 h 

3 'A 



Smartsville inch 1.78 cu. ft. per min. 

»5 

1,200 

*3 

4 





5,000 

. . . 




1,200,000 



4 6K 


6.4 to 12.8 

5 to 6 


2 

136.'5° 

j Including Glen Beatson and Oregon 
) Gulch Ditches. 

52 

2,000 

9.60 

8 

5 

3'A 

500,000 



20 

2,400 

7 to 8 

9 

6 

3 

450,000 



125 

3,600 

11 to 32 

11 to 15 

7 l A to 11 

4 

498,064 73 


f Excluding reservoirs. The water- 

27K 

.... 

\ . 

14 

5 

4^ 

6 


rights cost $256,594 additional. 1 0- 
tal cost of canals, reservoirs, and 

37,299 46 

25 


j 

9* 

4 


water-rights, $962,628 06. 

25O 


6 to 16 

2,'A to 8 

2 to 5 

iK to 3 

600,000 



29O 


up to 16 

8 

5 

2 K 

2,000,000 


The inch here is a discharge of 1.39 

46 


8 to 10 

IO 

6 

4 

> 900,000 


cu. ft. per min. 

75 


16 

8 

5 

4 

) 




* Report of J. D. Hague. 


+ Raymond’s Report for 1873, pp. 73 and 74. 


t Mint Report for 1881, p. 626. 































































































































































































. 








































' 
























.. 







































































































































































































































FLUMES. 


157 


The logs, brush, and leaves from the lower bank (under 
the artificial bank) are carefully removed. The founda¬ 
tion is generally cut for the entire width of the flume. 
The sketch (Fig. 18) shows the method of posting along 
cliffs, where the foundation is occasionally narrower 
than the flume. Where flumes connect with the ditch, 
the posts of the flumes, for a distance of several boxes, 
are 4 to 4^2 feet high, allowing an additional side plank. 
The grade of the flume is 32 feet per mile. The planking 
is 2 inches thick. 


CHAPTER XI. 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 

# 

Wrought-Iron Pii>es. —Wrought-iron pipe is used 
extensively in California on account of its cheapness of 
construction, its adaptability for crossing depressions, the 
facility with which it can be moved (changes of the posi¬ 
tion of the line being often necessary), and other advan¬ 
tages arising from its lightness combined with great ten¬ 
sile strength. 

It is used as— 

(1) A water-conduit, replacing ditches and flumes. 
Where large depressions are crossed it is called an “ in¬ 
verted siphon.” 

(2) A “ supply or feed pipe,” conveying water from 
the “ pressure box ” to the claim. 

(3) A “distributing pipe,” taking the water from the 
“ distributer,” or “ gates,” at the end of the supply pipe, 
and delivering it to 

(4) the “discharge pipe ” or “nozzle.” 

Large mining companies often have their pipes con¬ 
structed at their own workshops, although generally the 
iron plates of proper size and thickness are punched and 
rolled before delivery, and put together on the claim. 

Inverted Siphons. —According to Father Secchi, 
there is near the town of Alatri, in Italy, an “ inverted 
siphon ” with a depression of three hundred and thirty- 
eight feet, supposed to have been constructed by the 
Romans two hundred years before Christ. The pipes 

158 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


*59 


are of earthenware, embedded in concrete, and are said to 
be still in a good state of preservation. There is, there¬ 
fore, no novelty in the construction of this kind of water- 
conduit; but the use of wrought-iron pipe for this pur¬ 
pose was very limited until adopted in California, where 
it has been very largely employed, and where there have 
been obtained valuable data of the strength of materials 
and methods of construction, as well as of the flow of 
water through long pipes, essentially modifying theories 
and formulas previously accepted. 

Thickness of Iron. —The thickness of the iron is 
determined by the pressure of the water and the diame¬ 
ter of the pipe, allowance being made, of course, for the 
quality of the material and the method of riveting. The 
factor of safety against damage from accident is regu¬ 
lated by the importance of the line. On account of va¬ 
riations in plates marked as being of the same size and 
number, it would be well, as a precautionary measure, to 


TABLE XIV. 

Thickness and Weight of the Principal Sizes of Iron used for Hydraulic 

Pipe. 


No. 

B. G. 

Thickness.—Inches. 

Weight per 
sq. ft.— 
Pounds. 

No. 

B. G. 

Thickness.—Inches. 

Weight per 
sq. ft.— 
Pounds. 

18 

.049 

I.98 

6 

.203 

8.20 

16 

tV + =*065 

2.62 

4 

.238 

9.61 

14 

.083 

3-35 

3 

t ■+■ —- 2 59 

IO.47 

12 

.109 

4.4O 

2 

.284 

II.48 

11 

| — =.120 

4-85 

I 

t 5 6 - =-3oo 

12 13 

10 

•134 

5-41 

O 

• 340 

13.74 

8 

.165 

6.66 

OO 

| + =.380 

15.36 

7 

fs ~ = • 180 

7.27 

























i6o 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


weigh each plate used, as thereby any essential difference 
in thickness could be detected. Iron plates which have 
been subjected to the action of salt water are undesirable. 

The Spring Valley Water Company, of San Francisco, 
California, strain their pipes from 11,400 to 13,000 lbs. per 
sectional inch. 

The Virginia City and Gold Hill Water Company, of 
Nevada, has an inverted siphon (of inferior English iron) 
with a maximum pressure of 1,720 feet head, equal to 
746 lbs. per square inch, No. o iron, with ^8-inch rivets, 
being used at the lowest point of depression and sub¬ 
jected to a tensile strain of 13,310 lbs. The No. 9 iron 
is strained fully 15,000 lbs., and the No. 7 over 14,000 
lbs., per sectional inch. 

The Texas Creek pipe, four miles below the Bow¬ 
man Dam, Nevada County, California, is an inverted 
siphon 4,438.7 feet long, 17 inches in diameter, made of 
riveted plate iron. Its inlet is 303 feet above the outlet, 
and with a full head it will discharge about 1,260 miner’s 
inches. It sustains a maximum pressure of 770 feet or 
334 lbs. per square inch.* 

At Cherokee,f California, there is an inverted siphon 
of ordinary English plate, 30 inches in diameter, with a 
maximum pressure of 887 feet head. 

The maximum strains on the several sizes of iron used 
in practice are given in the following tables: 


* See Official Report North Bloomfield Mining Co., 1878. 
f For further description see p. 172. 


TABLE XV. 


Tensile St) cim on ITvou^Jit~Tvon Pipe . 



Locality. 

Diameter 

Thickness 
of Iron. 

Pressure. 

Maximum 
Tensile Strain 
per 

sectional inch. 
Lbs. 





of Pipe. 




Lbs. 
per sq. 
inch. 


Remarks. 



Inches. 

B. G 
No. 

Inches. 

Feet. 




j Amador City. 

15 


.083 

260 

112 'A 


j Longitudinal rivets api: 

1 wheel gate at lower end. 

irt. Circular-sean 


s i%" apart. Has a water- 





i Moore’s Flat. 

12 

14 

.0S3 



12,520 












J Moore’s Flat. 

22 

I 14 

1 16 

.083 

80 



J- Length of line, 3,500'. 






.065 













The pipe is laid on wooden blocks on top of the ground, in courses, as per sketch : 

; San Juan. 

40 

f 7 

187 


34-6 

3>7Qo 

5>54 2 


A ) | B | j A j 

B 


' 

1 11 

■ 125 


Sheets A are 3-16" thick, and P. are '/a" thick. Rivets in all seams 2" apart. 
Hot-riveted, and lap of seam 2". Pipe put up in 20' sections, and bolts used 
with the nuts outside and spaced 2" apart. Length 2,200'. Coal-tar on out¬ 
side ; nothing inside. Has stood five years. Cost $20,000. 

San Juan.. 

3 6 

\ 14 

o3^ 

55 

23.81 

86.6 

5,161 

\ Rivets i] 4 " apart ; laps 2" ; pipe 2,500' long ; c 
\ pentine ; laid above ground. 

. 

inside with coal-tar and tur- 

San Juan .... 

1 T2 

l8 

. iog 




.049 


14,120 





San Juan. 

j 12 


■°49 

184 

79.6 


) 





1 n 


9,755 

j- Not coated. In use eight years. 



Smartsville.. 

16 

18 

.O49 

180 

77-9 

12,725 

(900' long; courses 30", with rivets on longitudinal seam aparl, and on 

) circular seam 2%" . Painted outside, but not inside. In use five years. 

Smartsville. 

18 

14 

.083 



9,39° 


1 'A" 

apart ; circular seams 3" ; 




) lap No coating. 



30 

M 

.083 

300 

129.9 

23,47® 


Rivets 3-16" diameter, 1'' 


j apart. 




30 


•125 

36s 

158. 

19,000 

( Exneriment. In both of these cases the Dine 

leaked, but was made tieht with 



| sawdust. 




Virginia City Water Co. 

11 k 


.324 

1,720 

750- 

13,310 

( Length of pipe, 37,100'. Discharge about two million gallons per twenty-four 



l hours. 





30 


■175 

887 

384- 

15,360 











French Corral. 

22 

IO 

•134 

430 

186. 

15,276 

J- This pipe is 4,000' long. 





22 

IO 



194.8 

15,991 












Malakoff Diggings. 

IS 

12 

. IOg 

450 

194.8 

x 3»4°3 





Texas Creek. 

17 

8 

■'65 

760 

329- 

16,952 

f An inverted siphon 4,438' long, made of double-riveted wrought iron ; joints 
made by sleeves with lead packing ; coated with coal-tar and asphaltum ; 

- quality of the iron very poor; damaged by salt water. The pipe burst twice 
in 1878-9, and again at its greatest depression in 1883. An examination of the 
iron at this point showed that it was eaten through with rust. 


Note. —The formula used for determining the thickness of iron is T= „ ■, where R=radius in inches, P—pressure of iron in lbs. per sq. 
strain pet sectional inch, lbs. * 


inch, T = thickness of iron in inches, F=tensile 










































































































Fig. 19. Sketch of North Bloomfield Gold-Mining Company’s Texas Creek Tile, Nevada County, California. 

Dmmeter of Pipe , 17 inches. Length of,pipe, 4,439 feet. Head 0/ water , 303 feet. Discharge per second, 31 cubic feet. Nos. 8, 9, etc., thickness of pipe, Birmingham Gauge. Dots on profile, air-valves. 























































































































































































Note.—I n practice the diameter of the pipe is not always the exact number given in the table, as it depends on the sheets used and the punching. 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


161 


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PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


162 


Riveting. —For ordinary pipe under light pressure a 
very common style is to have the seams single-riveted, the 
rivets (say yi of an inch in diameter for an 1 i-inch pipe) 
being spaced 1 or inch apart on the longitudinal 
seams, and sometimes as much as 3 inches apart on the 
circular seams. Pipe thus put together becomes water¬ 
tight in use through the particles which naturally float 
in the water, or can be made so by throwing in a few 
bags of sawdust or shovelfuls of dirt, and will remain 
tight even when subjected to a pressure as great as 200 
lbs. per square inch. 

For heavy pressures and more careful construction the 
circular seams have a single row of rivets 1 inch apart, 
while the longitudinal seams are double-riveted, with 
rivets spaced 1 inch apart in two rows about *4 inch from 
each other. 

Cold-riveting is common. In very particular work 
only is hot-riveting resorted to. 

TABLE XVII. 

Sizes of Rivets used in General Practice. 

No. 18 and 16 iron, No. 10.9 and 8 iron, %X. % 

“ 14 “ t\X3 4 . “ 7 and 6 “ 

“ 12 and 11 “ “ 3 “ 34 Xi>2 

TABLE XVIII. 


Details of Riveting a 1'1-inch Pipe of the Spring Valley Water Co. 


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PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


163 

Joints. —The pipes in general use in the mines are 
II, 15, 22 > 30> and 40 inches in diameter, of riveted sheet 
iron Nos. 8, 10, 12, 14, or 16 (Birmingham gauge) made 
in sections of 30 to 36 inches, riveted into lengths of about 
20 to 30 feet, which latter are very frequently put to¬ 
gether in stove-pipe fashion, neither rivets, wire, nor other 
contrivance being necessary to hold the joints in place. 
This stove-pipe connection is sufficient in ordinary cases. 
When it will not suffice iron collars and lead joints are 
used. 

The annexed sketch (Fig. 20) shows the style of joint 



a 

Fig. 20. Lead Joint. 


originally used on the siphon of the Virginia City and 
Gold Hill Water Company. 

The cut shows the joint which is made between every 
two lengths of pipe, or 26 feet 2 inches : a is a wrought- 
iron collar, 5 inches wide, T \ of an inch thicker than the 
iron of the pipe, and with a play of of an inch between 
the inside of the collar and the outside of the pipe ; b is 
the lead, which is run in and then calked tight from both 
sides ; c is a nipple of No. 9 iron, 6 inches in width, rivet¬ 
ed on one end of each pipe by means of six ^4-inch 
rivets. 
































































164 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


Fig - . 21 shows the method of tightening - leaky joints: 
a shows the clamp and its application for forcing back the 
lead which has worked out through the expansion and 



contraction of the pipe. This is shown both in perspec¬ 
tive and in cross section. The clamp b is used to keep 
the lead in place after it has been forced back by the 






































































































































































































































Fig. 23. Method of Strapping Elbows and Pipes. 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


165. 


clamp a. The two lower 
sketches of this clamp b 
show both the side view 
and the elevation. 

Fig. 22 shows the elbow 
used in making short curves. 
a a are angle irons riveted 
on the pipe on the outside 
of the curves, and, by means 
of iron straps, connected 































































































































PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


166 



with the corresponding angle irons on the next pipe, as 

denoted in Fig. 23, which 
shows the manner in which 
the pipes and elbows were 
strapped together when¬ 
ever the curve was suffi¬ 
ciently short to require this 
precaution against an out¬ 
ward movement. 

Air - Valves, Blow- 
offs.— On a long- line of 
pipe, or a siphon, “ blow- 
offs ” and air-valves are pro¬ 
vided to allow the escape 
of the air from the pipe 
while filling, and especially 
to prevent a collapse of the 
pipe in case of a break. 
The valves in use are of 
varied make. A simple construction is a piece of leather 
loaded on the inside of the pipe, and arranged to cover 
an opening from 1 inch to 4 inches in diameter. A bet- 


Fig. 24. Air-Valve for 22" Water 
Pipes. 



Fig. 25. 


ter class of valve is shown in Fig. 24. 

























































PIPES AND NOZZLES. 167 

This sinks and opens when the water leaves it, and 
floats and shuts when the water rises to it. 

The contrivances used on the Virginia City and Gold 
Hill Water Company’s siphon are shown in Figs. 25 
and 26. 

Fig. 25 shows the blow-off used in every low place 
(also marked with a triangle in the profile, Fig. 27). 

Fig. 26 shows the self-acting air or vacuum valve used 
at each high point on the 
line. When the water is on, 
the valve a is kept open and 
the valve c closed, while the 
self-acting valve b is shut by 
the pressure. If any air ac¬ 
cumulates in the pipe it is 
blown off occasionally by 
opening the cock, c. Should 
a break occur in the main 
pipedine at a point lower 
than the air-cock, and within 
its district, the valve b falls 
down and admits the air so 
as to prevent a vacuum. 

After a break on the main „ , _ . 

. . Fig. 26. Self-acting Air-Valve. 

line is repaired and the water 

is let on again, the valve b being down or open, the air 
rushes out, the valve-stem being weighted, d, so as to 
close only when the water reaches it. 

Preservation against Rust and Accidents.— 
In order to protect the pipe it should (as far as possible) 
be laid in a trench and covered with earth to a depth 
of at least one foot for the ordinary conditions of hydrau¬ 
lic mining. 

Wrought-iron pipes should be treated externally and 
internally with asphaltum or coal-tar, the life of a pipe 
being dependent to a very great extent upon this bitu¬ 
minous coating, which preserves the iron from rust and 






























168 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


the corroding - action of water. Thin iron pipes well coat¬ 
ed are still in good condition after fifteen years of ser¬ 
vice. 

The following preparations have been found valuable 
in practice: 

Crude asphaltum. 28 per cent. 

Coal-tar (free from oily substances). 72 “ “ 

Or 

Refined asphaltum. 16^ per cent. 

Coal-tar (free from oily substances). 83% “ “ 

The (Santa Barbara) asphaltum, in small pieces, and 
the coal-tar are heated to about 400 degrees Fahr. and 
well stirred. The pipe is thoroughly dried and immersed 
in the mixture, where it remains until it acquires the 
same temperature as the mixture. When coated it is 
removed, placed on a trestle to drip and dry in the sun 
and air. For convenience of immersion wrought-iron 
troughs, some 30 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, 
are used. No. 14 iron requires immersion for about 7 
minutes, and No. 6 for 12 to 15 minutes. 

Filling Pipes. —A pipe-line being finished, water 
must be admitted in such a way as to prevent the air 
from being sucked in, which will happen (and to a great 
extent) unless care is taken. The best plan is to put a 
gate in the pipe below the level where the water enters, 
and thus regulate the flow, maintaining a steady pres¬ 
sure and avoiding violent oscillations. The common plan 
of admitting the water through a pen-stock, which is kept 
filled so that the water is quiet, will answer if proper care 
is exercised. 

STATISTICS OF PIPE-LINES. 

La Grange Hydraulic Mining Company.— The 

following are the details of the cost and construction 
of 1,233^ feet of 22-inch wrought-iron pipe made at the 
works of the La Grange Hydraulic Mining Company, 
Stanislaus County, California. 

The iron used was No. 16, U. S. wire gauge, or 0.03 






PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


169 


inch thick. The pipe sections averaged 19 feet in length, 
containing each 8 sheets of iron 6 by 3 feet. The laps 
were \)4 inches at the joints and single-riveted, the rivets 
being driven 1 inches from centre to centre in ^-inch- 
diameter holes. To each sheet of iron 77 rivets were used, 
28 on the longitudinal and 49 on the circular seams. The 
heads of the rivets were % inch in diameter by inch 
thick, and the shanks ]/^ inch in diameter by 0.44 inch 
long. The rivets weighed about l /% ounce each, or 128 to 
the pound. 

COST OF ONE RUNNING FOOT OF PIPE. 


Iron 57 6 sq. ft., or 11.82 lbs., at 4 cts.$0 53 

Rivets, 32, or 0.25 lb., at 13 cts. 0 03 

Punching and rolling .o 12 

Freight on iron and rivets, at 1 ct. per lb.o 12 

Labor contract per foot.... o 25 

Tarring. o 03 

Total cost per running foot. $1 oS 

TABLE XIX. 


North Bloomfield. — A. Cost of iron pipe at North 
Bloomfield, 22 inches diameter, No. 10 iron, double-riveted, 


per length of 17 feet 3 inches: 

Six sheets iron 36" X 72", No. 10= 540 lbs., at 4.38 cts.$23 65 

Freight, Sacramento to Bloomfield, il 80 “ . 4 32 

Rivets, T 5 e"X|" = i2 lbs., . “10 “ . 1 20 

Labor by contract, 17' 3", “ 25 “ per ft.. 4 31 

Wear and tear of tools, 3 cts. per foot; tarring, “ 3 “ “ 1 03 

Total cost of 17' 3" length. $34 51 

or $2 per lineal foot. 


B. Cost of iron pipe 22 inches diameter, No. 12 iron, 


double-riveted, per length of 17 feet 3 inches: 

Six sheets No. 12 iron, 36" X 72'' = 4S0 lbs., at 4.38 cts.$21 02 

Freight, Sacramento to North Bloomfield, “80 “. 3 84 

Rivets, y 5 ¥ "Xi" = 10 lbs, “10 “ . 100 

Labor, “ 21 “ per ft.. 3 62 

Wear and tear of tools, and tarring, “ 6 “ “ 1 03 

Total cost of 17' 3" length.$30 51 

or $1 77 per lineal foot. 

























170 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


The above pipe was double-riveted on the longitudi¬ 
nal seams, and single-riveted on the circular seams. The 
long-seam rivets were spaced i 3 ^ inches; the rows were 
1 inch apart. The circular-seam rivets were spaced 1 % 
inches apart. The sheets of iron were not cut, but 
punched so as to make a pipe full 22 inches diameter. 

The No. 10 iron is used under 450 feet head, with noz¬ 
zles as small as six inches in diameter. The No. 12 iron 
is used under 410 foot head, with nozzle as small as 7*4 
inches in diameter. 

The cost of an outfit of tools for large-pipe making 
(iron up to No. 10, B. G.) is as follows: 


Rollers.$150 00 

Stake.. 50 00 

Punch. 100 00 

Hammer and tools. 25 00 

Fitting up, etc. 75 00 


Total. $400 00 


Spring Yalley Water Company, San Francisco. 

—The following figures, * given in tabular form, show the 
details of the construction of an 18-inch wrought-iron 
pipe, 5,800 feet long, made for the Spring Valley Water 
Company, which supplies the city of San Francisco. 
This pipe has a tensile strain of about 5,000 or 6,000 
l'os. per sectional inch, and was made with this low co¬ 
efficient in order to withstand the pulsations caused 
by a single-acting plunger pump making as high as 36 
(four-foot) strokes per minute. These pulsations in prac¬ 
tice vary from 5 to 9 lbs. per stroke when the air-vessel 
is properly charged, but through carelessness they may 
exceed 50 pounds. 


* Details by Joseph Moore, Superintendent of the Risdon Iron-Works, San Francisco. 









PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


171 


K ^ ^ ^ ^ 


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Thickness of the bands. 


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Width of the bands. 


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Thickness of the sleeves. 


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Width of the sleeves. 


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to 


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4 *. to 


4 k 

to 


Width of the sheets used in 
the pipes. 


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VO O M M 

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Thickness of the iron used 
in the pipes. 


Cn 

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Cn 

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Diameter of rivets used. 


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Pitch of the circle seams in 
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Pitch of the circle seams in 
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Amount of two laps. 


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to 

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Space between double row. 


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Length to the joining holes 
in the outside courses. 


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Whole length of the outside 
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Whole length of the inside 
courses. 


Cn Cn Cn Cn 4 k CO CO CO ^ 

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Spaces in the circle seams. 

In. 

1.7223 

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Pitch of the double row. 

tototototo to to to tr* 

4 k. Cn On cn On CotOtOp 

Spaces in the double row. 

In. 

2.1094 

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2.3871 

2.207 

2.05 

2.332 

2.05 

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Amount of the two outside 
spaces of the double row. 

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Amount of two laps for the 
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-- ■ .. -. ... — 


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172 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


Virginia City Water-Works. —The Virginia and 
Gold Hill Water Company have an inverted siphon 
across the Washoe Valley, Nevada, 7 miles long, 11% 
inches in diameter, of riveted wrought iron. The total 
weight of the siphon is about 700 tons. The pipes were 
hot-riveted, with a single row on the circular and a dou¬ 
ble row on the longitudinal seams, a million rivets being 
used. The separate lengths were united by lead joints, 
previously described (see p. 163). For these 35 tons of 
lead were required. The pipe was constructed in 1872 
of inferior English iron, but is still (1883) in good con¬ 
dition. The No. 9 iron is strained fully 15,000 lbs., and 
the No. 7 over 14,000 lbs., per sectional inch. The pipe 
is said to' have been tested to a pressure of 1,400 lbs. per 
square inch. 

The annexed sketch (Fig. 27) shows the profile. The 
numbers along the line give the thickness of iron, B. G., 
used under the various pressures which are indicated in 
the perpendicular columns of figures from 100 to 1,700 
(feet), at the points where the parallel lines strike the pro¬ 
file. The triangles below the line denote the locations of 
the blow-offs, and 0, above the line, represents the air- 
valves. These have been previously described (see pp. 
166, 167). 

Spring Valley and Cherokee Hydraulic Mining 
Company.— At Cherokee, Butte County, California, the 
Spring Valley and Cherokee H. M. Company has an in¬ 
verted siphon of wrought iron, 30 inches in diameter, 
which discharges 53 cubic feet of water per second. This 
was the first large construction of the kind on the coast. 
It has been in continuous use for 12 vears, and is still 
in good condition. The material was ordinary English 
plate. The greatest pressure is 887 feet. 

The sketch * (taken from the original survey) shows 
the profile and the different sizes of iron used. The maxi- 

* The Mining and Scientific Press of January 7, 1871, contains a detailed account of 
the construction of this pipe and a diagram of the line. 


Fig. 27. Profile of Iron Pipe for the Virginia and Gold Hill Water-Works. 

Average Diameter 0/ Pipe, 1114 inches. Circular seams single-riveted, longitudinal seams double-riveted. Capacity , about 2 , 000,000 gallons 
in 24 hours. Pressure , 1,720 feet, or 746 pounds per square inch. Length of pipe, about 37 , 100 /<?<?/. Laid in 1872 Hermann Schuss- 
ler. Civil Engineer. Total fall, 300 


PIPES AND NOZZLES 


173 




























































































































































































1 74 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


mum strains on each size are given in the following 
table: 


TABLE XXI. 


Details of Spring Valley and Cherokee Pipe. 


Size of Iron. 

Greatest Pressure. 

Maximum tensile 
strain, in pounds 
per sectional inch. 

Birmingham 

Gauge. 

Feet head. 

Pounds per 
square inch. 

No. 14 

170 

74 

13,374 

“ 12 

2S8 

125 

17,202 

“ II 

293 

127 

15,875 

• “ IO 

355 

154 

17,240 

“ 7 

435 

188 

15,080 

“ 3 

594 

257 

15,420 

“ 1 

842 

365 

17,549 

“ 00 

887 

384 

15,360 


Flow of Water through Pipes.— A series of ex¬ 
periments on the flow of water through circular pipes 
was made by Hamilton Smith, Jr., at the works of the 
North Bloomfield Mining Company and at New Alma- 
den, in Santa Clara County, California. The details of 
these experiments were communicated by him to the 
American Society of Civil Engineers. 

The following table (XXII.), compiled by Mr. Smith, 
shows the results of 88 experiments as to the discharge 
of water through circular pipes “ varying from 4 feet 
to inch in diameter,” and with velocities varying from 
20 feet to l /e of a foot per second. The standard of mea¬ 
sure used was that of the United States Coast Sur¬ 
vey. The temperature of the water in Nos. 35 to 87 was 
about 65° Fahr.; in the other experiments, from 50° to 
55 0 Fahr. 













Flow of Water through Circular 


_ c 

0 I 

I 

d 

a 

h 

o-r 

^ a 

X 

W 

Length. 

Mean 

Diameter. 

Mean 

Area. 

Total Head. 

1 

684.8 

•9105 

.6511 

24.220 

2 

697.0 

.911 

.6518 

I 9-°°5 

3 

7 T 3*9 

.911 

.6518 

12.850 

4 

721.3 

.911 

.6518 

10.200 

5 

730.6 

.911 

.6518 

6-555 

6 

684.9 

1.056 

.8758 

24.5IO 

7 

699.6 

1.056 

.8758 

i 6.6qo 

8 

709.2 

1.056 

.8758 

10.885 

9 

7 i8 -4 

1.056 

-8758 

5 -i 3 o 

10 

684.4 

1.230 

1.1882 

24.390 

XI 

695.6 

1.230 

1.1882 

18.930 

12 

70 S. 0 

1.230 

1.1882 

12.720 

13 

71°.7 

1.230 

1.1882 

9-550 

M 

712.4 

1.230 

1.1882 

8-545 

15 

719.9 

1.229 

1.1863 

3-915 

j 6 

5.280. 

4 - 

12 -57 

5 - 

«7 

I2.798. 

2-43 (?) 

4.64 

150 0 

l8 

1.193.8 

2.154 

3-643 

22.067 

19 

29.580 

'■3333 

1 -396 

420. 

20 

25-765- 

1 -3333 

1.306 

230. 

21 

3-815- & 

1-3333 

1.396 

184. 

22 

3.836.6 

1.599 

2.007 

12.885 

*3 

7.481.7 

.4441 


.496 

24 

7.481.7 

.4441 


1.007 

2$ 

7-48I-7 

•4441 


1.488 

20 

7.481.7 

.4441 


1.872 

27 

7 48 i -7 

.4441 


2.132 

28 

7.481.7 

•444 1 


2.220 

J 2 9 

50.776. 

3- 

7.0686 

16.517 \ 

I 3° 

51-495- 

2. 

3- I 4 I 6 

127.203 J ^0 7 

31 

II.217. 

3- 

7.069 

20.215 

32 

29-715- 

I.6667 

2.l82 

30.262 

33 

44.400. 

1.25 

I .227 

226. 

34 

6.600. 

I . 

•7854 

34-5 

35 

60.172 

.0878 

. CO6054 

8.330 

36 

60.172 

.0878 

. 006054 

6.590 

37 

60.172 

.0878 

.006054 

4.850 

3» 

60.172 

.O878 

.OO6054 

3.272 

39 

60.172 

.O878 

.006054 

1.663 

40 

60.172 

.0878 

.006054 

.787 

4 1 

60.172 

.O878 

.006054 

•473 

42 

00.247 

.0878 

.006054 

8.317 

43 

60.247 

.0878 

.006054 

6.506 

44 

60.247 

.0878 

.006054 

4.847 

45 

60.247 

.0878 

.OO6054 

3.276 

46 

60.247 

.O878 

.006054 

1.669 

47 

60.247 

.0878 

.006054 

■784 

48 

60.247 

.0878 

.006054 

■491 

49 

60.264 

.0873 

.OO5986 

8-353 

50 

60.264 

.0873 

.OO5986 

6.597 

5i 

60.264 

.0873 

.OO5986 

3-3I3 

52 

60.264 

.0873 

.005986 

1-703 

53 

16.685 

.0876 

.006027 

4.620 

54 

16.685 

.O876 

.006027 

3-179 

55 

l6.685 

.O876 

.006027 

i-SM 

56 

16.685 

.0876 

.006027 

.623 

57 

60.247 

.0853 

.005715 

8-315 

58 

60.247 

•0853 

•005715 

6.563 

59 

60.247 

.0853 

.005715 

4.846 

60 

60.247 

• 0853 

•005715 

3- 2 78 

61 

60.247 

-0853 

•005715 

I.684 

62 

60.247 

.0853 

•005715 

.780 

63 

60.247 

.0853 

•005715 

•474 

64 

60.127 

.0523 

.002148 

8.354 

65 

60.127 

.0523 

.002148 

6.593 

66 

60.127 

•0523 

.002148 

4.867 

67 

60.127 

• 0 523 

.002148 

3.306 

68 

60.127 

.0523 

.002148 

1.710 

69 

60. 127 

.0523 

.002148 

.813 

70 

63.902 

.0764 

.OO4584 

8.670 

7 1 

63.902 

.0764 

.OO4584 

6.840 

72 

63.902 

.0764 

.OO4584 

5.036 

73 

63.902 

.0764 

.004584 

3-387 

74 

63.902 

.0764 

OO4584 

1.661 

75 

34-94 1 

0622 

.003039 

5.072 

76 

34-94 1 

0622 

.003039 

3.660 

77 

34-941 

.0622 

.003039 

2.059 

78 

34-941 

.0622 

.003039 

0.673 

79 

II.127 

.O418 

.001372 

3.025 

80 

II.127 

.O4I8 

.0013^2 

2-155 

81 

II.127 

.O4I8 

.001372 

i .2 66 

82 

II.127 

.0418 

.001372 

.816 

83 

62.05 

.1052 

.008692 

8.524 

84 

62.05 

. 1052 

.0086Q2 

6.696 

85 

62.05 

.1052 

.OO8692 

4.942 

86 

62.05 

. 1052 

.OO8692 

3-309 

87 

62.05 

.1052 

.OO8692 

1-567 

88 

4.438.7 

1.41^ 

1-57* 

303.6 


c 

0 it 

h ' 

H 

V 

Coefficient 

of 

Contraction. 

Gravity. 

Effective 

Head. 

Discharge 

per 

Second. 

Velocity. 

per 

Second. 

1.00 

64.29 

22.650 

6.542 

10.048 

do. 

do. 

17.832 

5.661 

8.685 

do. 

do. 

12.098 

4-531 

6.952 

do. 

do. 

9.618 

3.986 

6.115 

do. 

do. 

6.203 

3-099 

4-755 

do. 

do. 

22.711 

9.419 

IO -755 

do. 

do. 

I 5-5 , 9 

7.601 

8.679 

do. 

do. 

io.127 

6.115 

6.982 

do. 

do. 

4-799 

4-039 

4.612 

do. 

do. 

22.036 

14.617 

12.302 

do. 

do. 

17.132 

12-773 

10.750 

do. 

do. 

. II -59 2 

10.120 

8.517 

do. 

do. 

8-7’3 

8.714 

7-334 

do. 

do. 

7-813 

8.152 

6.861 

do. 

do. 

3.614 

5- 

150. 

5- 2 i7 

43-4 6 

50.0 

4.398 

3.46 

10.78 


64.29 

1.00 

19.596 

420. 

45-9 2 

9-5 J 6 

12.605 

6.816 




230. 

7-333 

5-252 


64.4 

1.00 

I80.7 

20.25 

I 4-5°5 

do. 

do. 

12.697 

.496 

6.981 

3-478 
. 1786 




I .OO7 

.2801 




I.488 

I.872 

•3665 

.4268 







2.132 

2.220 

.4629 

.4728 



14.360 

27.OO ) 

116.72 r^*7 2 

i 2-0315 

1 4•5709 





21.204 
3-256 

20.215 

30.262 

3.00 

1.492 







226. 

4 25 

3-46 

1 .00 

64.4 

34.3 


3-568 

.800 

64.287 

7.641 

.03224 

5.325 

do. 

do. 

6.059 

.02829 

4 673 

do. 

do. 

4.471 

.02390 

3-948 

do. 

do. 

3.027 

.01922 

3-!75 

do. 

do. 

1.550 

.01304 

2.154 

do. 

do. 

•738 

.00860 

I .421 

do. 

do. 

•451 

.00580 

•958 

.980 

do. 

7-847 

.03261 

5-387 

do. 

do. 

6.147 

.02850 

4.708 

do. 

do. 

4.588 

.02421 

3-999 

do. 

do. 

3- io 7 

• OI 953 

3.226 

do. 

do. 

1 -59 1 

.01331 

2.199 

do. 

do. 

• 75 i 

.00869 

1-435 

do. 

do. 

•473 

.00637 

I .052 

do. 

do. 

7.873 

.03258 

5-44.3 

do. 

do. 

6.230 

.02850 

4.761 

do. 

do. 

3-145 

.01930 

3.224 

do. 

do. 

1.623 

.01329 

2.220 

do. 

do. 

3-853 

.04148 

6.882 

do. 

do. 

2.667 

•03388 

5.62I 

do. 

do. 

1.283 

.02275 

3-775 

do. 

do. 

•535 

.01406 

2-333 

do. 

do. 

8.020 

.02438 

4.266 

do. 

do. 

6.332 

.02156 

3-773 

do. 

do. 

4.679 

.01835 

3.2II 

do. 

do. 

3.167 

.01497 

2.6l9 

do. 

do. 

1.630 

.01045 

1.829 

do. 

do. 

•757 

.00683 

1-195 

do. 

do. 

.461 

.00520 

.910 

•825 

do. 

8.010 

.00833 

3.878 

do. 

do. 

6.331 

.00727 

3 385 

do. 

do. 

4.680 

.00615 

2.863 

do. 

do. 

3.186 

.00493 

2.295 

do. 

do. 

1.653 

■00339 

1-578 

do. 

do. 

■789 

.00221 

I .029 

.970 

do. 

8.255 

.02296 

5.009 

do. 

do. 

6.522 

.02009 

4 383 

do. 

dex 

4.812 

.01689 

3-685 

do. 

do. 

3-244 

.01350 

2-945 

do. 

do. 

1.598 

.00896 

1-955 

.820 

do. 

4.630 

.01329 

4-373 

do. 

do. 

3-349 

.01114 

3.666 

do. 

do. 

I.896 

.00806 

2.652 

do. 

do. 

.628 

00425 

I-398 

do. 

do. 

2.569 

.00609 

4-439 

do. 

do. 

I.846 

.00502 

3-659 

do. 

do. 

1.095 

.00373 

2.719 

do. 

do. 

■716 

.00285 

2.077 

.800 

do. 

8.138 

■03465 

3.986 

do. 

do. 

6-395 

.03059 

3-519 

do. 

do. 

4.722 

.02615 

3.008 

do. 

do. 

3.161 

.02146 

2.469 

do. 

do. 

i- 5 ox 

•01437 

1-653 

.920 

64.4 

296.1 

31.69 

20.13 


Velocity of 
Stones sent 
through 
Pipe. 


9.42 

5-79 


7-4 (?) 


11.88 

9-58 


9.0 

11 24 


20.9 


TABLE XXII. 


Pipes. 


til 


Variable 
C oefficient. 


57-90 

56.89 

55-95 

55- 49 
54 -°6 

57-47 

56- 71 

56.86 

54 - 91 

61.82 

61.76 

59- 8 9 

59-72 

59-07 

55- 99 

56.22 

63.88 
67.03 

49-54 

48.14 

57- 72 

47.81 

32.92 

36.23 
39-00 
40.49 

4 1 • I 5 
41.19 

[ 65.031 

40.8 
36 22 
43-4 
49-5 

50.43 

49-70 

48.88 
47-77 
45.29 

43 - 30 
37-34 

50.38 
49-74 
48.91 

47-94 
45.67 
43 38 
40.07 

50.97 
50.12 
47-77 
45.78 
48 • 39 
47-50 
46.00 
44.02 

40.03 

39-85 

39-45 

39-ii 

38.07 

3 6 -50 

35.62 

46.46 

45.02 

44.87 
43.60 

41.62 

39.28 

50.42 

49.64 

48.58 

47.29 

44- 73 

48.17 

47.48 

45- 65 

41.81 

45->9 

43-94 

42.39 
40.05 

33-93 

33.80 

33.62 

33-73 

32-77 

65.56 


Formula , 



Expressed in English Feet. 


C 

•4-. <D 

0 s 



AUTHORITY. 


W 


I 

Hamilton Smith, Jr., 

North Bloomfield. 


do. 

do. 


do. 

do. 


do. 

do. 

5 

do. 

do. 

6 

do. 

do. 

7 

do. 

do. 

8 

do. 

do. 

9 

do. 

. do. 

10 

do. 

do. 

11 

do. 

do. 

12 

do. 

do. 

13 

do. 

do. 

I 4 

do. 

do. 

15 

do. 

do. 


REMARKS. 


] 


Experiments 1 to 15 inclusive were with riveted sheet-iron pipes of No. 14 iron, coated with coal-tar and 
asphaltum, and having been in use some 5 or 6 years; these three pipes were laid side by side across 
a valley about 100 feet lower than inlets, with no very sharp curves or angles. Pipes all fairly smooth, 
and joints put together stove-pipe fashion. 


16 

1 7 

18 

19 

20 

21 


J. M. Gale, Inst. Engineers in Scotland, i860. 
Surveys for Spring Valley Mining Co 
Hamilton Smith, Jr., North Bloomfield. 
Institution of Civil Engineers. 1855. 

do. do. 

do. do. 


Statement by Prof. Rankine. Section of long pipe. 

Measurements of discharge were 51.5, 48.5, and 52.8 feet per second. Probably 50 feet is nearly correct. 
Discharge was not measured with great accuracy. 

Colinton pipe, 
do. 
do. 


22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 


Couplet. Encyc. Brit, 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 


8th Ed. “ Rivers.” 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 


Versailles pipe. 

Iron and earthen pipe, 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 


J 2 9 l 
i 3° 1 

3 1 

32 

33 

34 


Report of Engineer Rochester Water Works. 

James P. Kirkwood, Brooklyn Water Works. 

do. do. 

Institution of Civil Engineers, 
do do. 


Hemlock lake compound pipe, made of cast and wrought iron. 

Croton main. New York City, much encrusted by soft water. 

Jersey City main. Comparatively new pipe (?), but much encrusted. 
Crawley pipe. 

Carlisle pipe. 


35 


36 


37 

38 


39 

40 

41 


Hamilton Smith, Jr., New Almaden. 


One-inch new gas-pipe, untarred, and no funnel. 


42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

5 1 

52 

53 

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79 

80 

81 

82 

83 

84 

85 

86 

87 

88 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. 


do. do. 


do. do. 


do. 


do. 


do. Texas Creek. 


One-inch new gas-pipe, untarred, and funnel at mouth. 


One-inch new gas-pipe, tarred, with funnel. 


One-inch gas-pipe, with funnel; pipe had been several years in use. 


Five-eighths-inch new gas-pipe, no funnel. 


One-inch glass pipe, with funnel. 


Three-fourths-inch glass pipe, no funnel. 


One-half-inch glass pipe, no funnel. 


Wooden one-and-a-quarter-inch pipe, no funnel. 


Pipe carefully tarred and comparatively new. 


































































































































































































































































- 







































Fig. 28. Profile of Wrought-Iron Pipe for the Ciierokke Gravel Mines, Butte County, California. 

Pipe, 30 inches in diameter. Circular seams single-riveted , longitudinal seams double riveted. Capacity, 53 cubic feet 

per second. Total fall , 150 feet. Laid in 1870 . 


PIPES AND NOZZLES 


1/5 


1 















































































































































PIPES AND NOZZLES. 



The experiments are all reduced to the formula: 

/dh'\* 

v ~\T) 

where v — velocity in English feet per second. 
d — mean diameter. 

/ = length. 

Ji — effective head. 
m — variable coefficients. 

“ The effective head h ' was derived from the total head 
h as follows, c being coefficient of contraction at en¬ 
trance : ” * 


THE PRESSURE BOX. 

The pressure box is situated at the end of the ditch in 
a commanding position above the claim, and from it the 
water is delivered into the supply pipe. The box derives its 
name from the fact that the head or pressure is measured 
from this point. Connected with or forming a part of the 
pressure box is the sand box, which is sunk below the 
level of the flume or ditch, and arranged to catch the 
gravel or sand carried along by the current. It is emp¬ 
tied by a side gate as circumstances may require. 

The pressure box is a large wooden receptacle, gene¬ 
rally constructed of iy^-inch planks, and securely held 
together with timbers. It is sufficiently large and deep 
to keep the head of the pipe, which enters it, under water 
with a steady pressure. 

A grating of bars is arranged to catch all floating ma¬ 
terial, such as sticks and leaves. The water should be 
quiet and sufficiently deep to prevent any air from being 
carried into the pipe. For this purpose the box is divided 
into compartments, one of which receives the water and 


* See “ Trans, of the Am. Society of Civil Engineers,” vol. xii. No. 204, pp. 120-123. 




Fig. 31 


Figs. 29, 30, and 31. North Bloomfield Pressure Box. 























































































































































































































PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


1 77 


v)iiietly discharges it into the second through lateral open¬ 
ings. There should be no perceptible difference between 
the water-supply and the discharge, or, if any, the former 
should be in excess, and the surplus should be regulated 
and discharged by a waste-gate placed near the end of 
the flume. Some pressure boxes are arranged for two 
pipes. 

La Grange Pressure Box. —The following is a de¬ 
scription of a pressure box at the La Grange Mine, Stan¬ 
islaus County: 

Some 350 feet to the rear of the pressure box there is 
a sand box in the ditch connecting with the waste-way. 
This sand box is 2 feet deep (below the bottom of the 
ditch), 4 feet wide, and 4 feet 3 inches long, and com¬ 
municates with the waste-way by means of a gate which 
slides clear to the bottom of the box. At the pressure 
box the four end posts and the two caps belonging to 
them are made of 6"X8* lumber. The six intermediate 
posts, three on a side, are of 6"x6" material, and their 
caps are of the same dimensions. All the sills, and the two 
longitudinal stringers on which they rest, are of 6 " X 8 " 
“ stuff.” Up to high-water mark the box has a double 
lining made of two i^-inch planks battened at the joints 
with strips inch by 4 inches. A 22-inch pipe takes the 
water. Nine feet from the box there is a 5-inch diameter 
stand pipe which extends 2 feet above the top of the pres¬ 
sure box. 

In large claims the pressure box ranges from 10 to 20 
feet in length with a single pipe, and, where two pipes are 
used, from 12 to 30 feet. Larger boxes are also built 
where the pressure, sand, and measuring boxes are com¬ 
bined in one. 

The pressure box at the Bloomfield Mine is 18 feet 
long and 6 feet wide, so arranged that the sand falls 
under a wooden diaphragm into a large chamber pro¬ 
vided with a gate. 


178 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


THE SUPPLY OR FEED PIPES. 

The water is conveyed in iron feed pipes from the 
pressure box to the claim, and by means of iron gates on 
the lower end of the feed pipes it is distributed to the 
discharge pipes. The supply pipe is funnel-shaped where 
it connects with the pressure box, and from there on it is 
usually of uniform diameter as far as the gate or discharge 
nozzle. 

Where 22 to 30-inch pipes are used it is not advisable 
to use lighter iron than No. 14, B. G., even under ex¬ 
tremely low heads, as lighter pipe of that size will not 
bear handling. 

The main supply pipe should descend in the most con¬ 
venient and direct line into the diggings, avoiding, so far 
as practicable, angles, rises, and depressions. Air-valves 
should be arranged at proper distances to allow the es¬ 
cape of air when filling the pipe, and also to prevent any 
collapse. Where the pipe passes over steep banks into 
the claim it is carried on a trestle and braced, care being 
taken to prevent any movement of the column. When 
necessary the pipe is secured with frame-work and 
weighted with stones. At all angles the pipe is braced 
and weighted. 

In filling the supply pipe the water should be turned 
on gradually, all sudden straining of the column being 
thus avoided. Leakage in the slip joints can be readily 
stopped with a few bags of sawdust or by wedging them 
with thin pieces of soft pine. Large leaks have to be 
closed by iron grip-bands drawn together by means of 
screws or wedges. 

The lower end of the supply pipe was formerly fitted 
into a distributing box of cast iron, from which one or 
more branch pipes were taken by means of gates. These 
are now abandoned owing to their great cost and liability 
to burst. 

The present practice is to fork the main pipe wherever 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


1 79 


an attachment is required, cast-iron gates being placed on 
each branch. The annexed sketch (Fig. 32) shows the 
form of these gates used in the mines, and also as a dis¬ 
charge gate for reservoirs. 

Where several branch pipes are supplied from the 
same main pipe they are usually of smaller diameter. 




Fig. 32. Distributing Gate. 


Their use arises from the greater convenience of moving 
the smaller pipes. They are generally n and 15 inches 
in diameter. It is recommended, however, in order to 
prevent a loss of head, to continue the branch pipes of 
the same size as the feed pipe, and to regulate the dis¬ 
charge by the size of the nozzles. At the Southern Cross 
and Polar Star Mines the supply pipes at the pressure 
box are 40 inches and 48 inches (respectively) in diameter, 
tapering for 500 feet to 22 inches, which size they retain for 
2,800 feet, then branching into two pipes each of 15 inches. 
At the Malakoff the pipe at the head is 27 inches, narrow- 



































































i8o 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


ing to 22 inches and 15 inches for the branches. At this 
mine nozzles of 6 inches to 9 inches diameter are used 
under a head of 450 feet. At the American Mine the pipes 
are 34, 22, and 15 inches. At the Bonanza Mine all the 
pipes are 16 inches. At the Milton Company’s Manzanita 
Mine the pipe is 22 inches from the pressure box to the 
nozzles. 1 his pipe is 4,000 feet long, with a head of 430 
feet. 


THE DISCHARGE PIPE OR NOZZLE. 

Goose Neck. —The first improvement in discharge 
pipes was a flexible iron joint formed by two elbows, one 
working over the other, with a coupling joint between 
them. These elbows were called Goose Necks. 



Their construction was very defective. The pressure 
of the water caused the joint to move hard, and when the 
pipe was turned horizontally it was apt to “buck,” or fly 
around in a contrary direction. The same thing occurred 
in elevating and depressing the pipe. 

Globe Monitor. —The Goose Neck was succeeded by 
the Craig Globe Monitor, a simple ball-and-socket joint, 
which was difficult to work, often requiring several men 
to manipulate it. 

A subsequent invention of Mr. Craig was the interior 
tripod and belt. “ This was a tripod with a centre hav¬ 
ing a hole to take a bolt with a knob on the end ; the 
other end passed out through the top of the elbow and 
had a nut with a lever. By tightening the nut it threw 













PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


181 


the strain on the bolt and reduced the friction on the 
joint proper.” These machines were hard to manage and 
soon became leaky at the joint. 



Fig. 34. Craig’s Globe Monitor. 


Hydraulic Chief. —T he invention of Mr. Craig was 
succeeded by the “ Hydraulic Chief,” sometimes known 
as the “ Knuckle-joint and Nozzle,” invented by Mr. F. H. 
Fisher. The main features consist of two elbows placed 



Fig. 35. The Hydraulic Chief. 


in reversed position when in right line, connected by a 
ring in which there are anti-friction rolls. The ring is 
bolted to a flange on the elbow, but gives the upper 
elbow a free horizontal movement, while the vertical mo¬ 
tion is obtained through the knuckle-joint, which is placed 













182 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


in the outlet on the top elbow. This joint is simply a 
concave surface fitted to a convex one, the former having 
an opening for the pipe to pass through. 

The interior of the machine is unobstructed by any 
bolts or fastenings, and the man at the pipe can operate it 
by means of the lever without personal danger. Vanes, 
or rifles, are inserted in the discharge pipe to prevent the 
rotary movement of the water caused by the elbows, and 
to force it to issue in a straight line, concentrated and in 
a solid form. These machines soon become leaky and are 
expensive to keep in order. 

Dictator. —In 1870 the Hoskins Dictator was patent¬ 
ed. This was a one-jointed machine, having an elastic 
packing in the joint instead of two metallic faces. The 
joint worked up and down on the pivots, and in rotating 
it the wheels ran around up against the flange. This ma¬ 
chine, though simple, is but little used. 

Little Giant. —Mr. Hoskins subsequently invented 



count of its simplicity and durability, rapidly superseded 
all others. It is portable and easily handled, having a 
knuckle-joint and lateral movement. The Giants have 
rifles, and nozzles from 4 to 9 inches in diameter, 5 to 
7-inch nozzles being most generally used. 








PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


183 


In setting Giants they must be firmly bolted to a heavy 
piece of timber, and this timber securely braced against 
the solid gravel or rock. The machine and adjacent 
length of pipe must also be weighted to the ground. 
The bearings should be lubricated. Tallow or axle-grease 

o o 

is preferable to oil for this purpose. 

Hydraulic Giant .—The Hydraulic Giant is a modi¬ 
fication of the Little Giant. The several sizes, as con¬ 
structed by Joshua Hendy, are as follows : 



Inlet, 

Outlet, 

Inside Diam. 

Weight, 

No. 

inches. 

inches. 

Nozzle Butt. 

lbs. 

I. 

.7 

51 

4 in. 

245 

2 . . . . 

.9 

7 

5 “ 

450 

3. 


7i 

5 or 6 “ 

665 

4. 


9i 

7 “ 

750 

<=; . 


9i 

8 “ 

00 

6. 

. 15 

11 

9“ 

1,050 



Monitor. —Fig. 39 represents a Monitor Hydraulic 
Machine with a “ deflecting nozzle,” the invention of Mr. 
Henrv C. Perkins. 

Deflector. —By means of the “ deflecting nozzle ” the 
Giant can be turned to any point and the stream directed 
with the greatest facility. 

A y Cast-iron nozzle. 

By Deflecting nozzle of wrought iron, attached to A 
by a joint similar to a compass gimbal. 

























184 


PIPES AND NOZZLES. 


C, Lever to govern the movement of B. 

D, Rest for lever B. 

The operation is as follows : When the lever, C, is in the 
rest, D, the deflecting nozzle, B, being of a larger diameter 
than nozzle, A, allows the stream of water from nozzle, A, 
to pass through without obstruction. To move the pipe 
the lever is taken from the rest and thrust in the direction 
in which it is desired to throw the stream. Any move¬ 
ment of the lever, C, either to the right or left, or up or 



Fig. 39. Monitor Hydraulic Machine. 


down, throws the end of the nozzle, B, into the stream of 
water. The force of the water striking B changes the 
course of the discharge, the entire machine moving in ac¬ 
cordance with each change of the deflector. 

Hoskins’ deflecting nozzle is of cast iron, of the same 
size as the main nozzle, to which it is attached by a 
packed universal joint. This deflector is operated by a 
lever in a manner similar to that already described. It 
has the disadvantage of causing a constant interference 
with the stream of water, and is somewhat dangerous to 
use. 













CHAPTER XII. 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 

Derricks. —Strong derricks are used in hydraulic 
mines to facilitate the removal of large boulders and rocks, 
which are of frequent occurrence. The present style of 
bed-rock derrick has a mast ioo feet high, and a boom 92 
feet long, which is set in a cast-iron box placed on sills. 
The mast is held in position by six guys of galvanized iron 
wire rope one inch in diameter. A whip block, with 
three-quarter inch diameter steel rope, is used for the 
hoisting tackle. A twelve-feet diameter Hurdy-gurdy 
wheel is attached, and, using 30 inches of water under 275 
feet head, it lifts stones weighing eleven tons. The guys 
are held by double capstans. 

This derrick can be readily moved 100 feet in ten 
hours without being taken down. 

Hurdy-gurdy Wheels. —Derricks and electric-light 
machines necessitate the employment of a motor, par¬ 
ticularly 7 one driven by water, and capable of utilizing 
hi prh heads. Hence the use of water-wheels of the class 
known as “Impact* Wheels," locally called “ Hurdy- 
gurdys." 

These are wheels moved by a stream or jet of water 
issuing under pressure from a conical nozzle and striking 
open buckets on the circumference of the wheel. The 
buckets, originally flat, have been modified in shape, and 
thereby the efficiency of the wheel greatly increased. 

Experiments at North Bloomfield. —The first 


* See comment on the use of this term, p. 194. 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


186 



Fig. 40. Hurdy-Gurdy Wheel and Derrick-Hoist. 











































































































Fig. 41. Hurdy-Gurdy Wheel and Derrick-Hoist. 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES 


187 









































188 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


noteworthy experiments recorded were made about ten 
years ago by Hamilton Smith, Jr., at North Bloom¬ 
field. The wheel was of the ordinary pattern with flat 
buckets, 18 feet in diameter on the outside and 17 feet 
4 inches in diameter to inner line of buckets (17 feet 



Scale 

t»" 9” 6” »” o |* 2* v 

tr.4-i-r-L.-r4-r-T-l 1 ■ ! I 

Fig. 42. Hurdy-Gurdy Wheel. 

8 inches in diameter at centre line of buckets). The 
buckets were 4 inches deep, with flanges on each side. 
The work done was measured by a Prony dynamometer. 

The following table shows the result obtained. The 
head given shows the real head in feet at the point of the 
discharge. 































VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES 


1 89 


TABLE XXIII. 


Description of nozzle. 

Diameter of nozzle in feet. 

Head, in feet, at nozzle. 

Discharge of water per 
second in cubic feet. 

Velocity of water due to 

gravity. 

Actual velocity of water 

at smallest diameter of 

nozzle. 

Speed of wheel at centre 

of buckets when running 

light. 

Highest horse-power de¬ 

veloped. 

Ratio of work done to 

theoretical power of wa¬ 

ter. 

Speed cf wheel at centre 

of buckets when giving 

most work. 

Number of nozzles. See 

sketches. 

Nozzle tapered. 

.0531 


322.3 

• 3 2 J> 

144.0 

145.8 

82.8 

3-8 

.318 

48.8 

I 

Ring. 

•0597 


316.3 

.240 

142.6 

85-7 

76.4 

2-7 

• 3 12 

44.8 

2 

Nozzle tapered. 

.0850 


3 12 - 1 

•759 

141.7 

t. 33-7 

93-6 

11.7 

•437 

57 -i 

3 




312.6 

.511 

141.8 

90.7 

■ • • . 

7-5 

.414 

54-7 

4 

Ring. 


i 













312.2 

.509 

141.7 

9 o -3 

9°-4 

... 

.... 

.... 

4 

Nozzle. 

.0850 


3 1 4-4 

•774 

142.2 

136.4 

.... 

11 8 

•427 

57-3 

3 

Nozzle tapered, uncut.. 

.0868 


316.1 

.813 

142.6 

137-4 

.... 

11.3 

•387 

59-8 

5 A 




3 * 7-9 

I.III 

143.0 

136.8 

.... 

15-9 

•396 

66.1 

7 

Nozzle. 

.1017 

- 













3 I 5-6 

I.IIO 

142.5 

136.7 

95.2 

.... 

.... 

.... 

7 




332.6 

m 

00 

146.2 

140.4 

. • • • 

13.0 

-413 

Cn 

00 

5 B 

Nozzle cut off. 

.0868 

*< 












f 335-9 

.833 

147.0 

140.8 

98-5 

.... 

.... 

.... 

5 B 





































































190 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


Experiments at the Empire Mill. —An experi¬ 
ment at the Empire Mill, French Corral, was made 
under the following circumstances, giving the annexed 
results: Ten stamps, weight of each 693*4 pounds. 
Drop, 0.768 feet. Speed of stamps, 62.2 drops per min¬ 
ute. Work done by 91.68 cubic feet of water per min¬ 
ute head, 130.1 feet. Size of wheel, 13^ feet outer 
diameter. Diameter of wheel, 12.58 feet to centres of 
buckets. Size of buckets, 4 inches wide and 6 inches 
deep, set 10 inches apart. Water conducted to wheel 
through an n-inch pipe 866 feet long. The wheel was 
direct on the cam shaft; single cams used. The mill 
crushed 60 tons of gravel in 24 hours ; one-quarter-inch 
screens were used. 


Description of nozzle. Ring- 

Diameter of nozzle in feet. .182 

Head, in feet, at nozzle. 130.1 

Discharge of water per second in cubic feet. 1.528 

Velocity of water due to gravity. 91.4 

Actual velocity of water at small diameter of nozzle. 58.5 

Speed of wheel at centre of buckets when running light. 

Highest horse-power developed. 10.0 

Ratio of work done to theoretical power of water. .445 

Speed of wheel at centre of buckets when giving most 

work. 41.0 

Number of nozzle (see sketch). 8. 


The head at French Corral was the height of the 
water in pen-stock above the nozzle, no allowance being 
made (as in the North Bloomfield experiments} for the 
loss of head by friction in pipes and by leakage.* 

Curved Buckets. —Recent patterns of wheels with 
curved buckets have given an efficiency very much in ex¬ 
cess of that described above. 

Tests at the Idaho Mine. —A series of comparative 
tests was made in the spring of 1883 the Idaho Mine, 

* All the data given on pages 189 and 190 concerning Hurdy-gurdy wheels were com¬ 
municated by the author to the American Institute of Mining Engineers in a paper read at 
the Wilkesbarre meeting, May, 1877. See vol. vi. “ Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining En¬ 
gineers.” 













VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 191 

Grass Valley, with the Fredenburr, Pelton, Knight, and 
Taylor wheels, the results of which are given below. The 
tests were made in public, all owners of wheels having a 
right to compete. Prony’s Friction Dynamometer was 
used, the brake acting on wheels 6 feet in diameter. 
The point of contact with the scale beam (57.3 inches) 
described a circumference of 30 feet. The supply main 
was 6,900 feet long, 22 inches in diameter, with a head of 
386^ feet at nozzle. A pressure gauge placed a short 
distance back from the discharge nozzle (1.89 inches (?) in 
diameter) is said to have registered standing 165 pounds, 
and running 162 pounds. The water from the wheel was 
discharged into a flume 36 feet long, 36.5 inches wide, and 
24 inches deep. There were three check-boards placed in 
the flume below where the water entered. The hook 
gauge, arranged on one side of the flume, was set 24 
inches back from the weir. The water passed freely 
around the hook and was very quiet in the flume. A 
weir, 12 inches deep and 36*4 inches wide, made of }£- 
inch iron, over which the water flowed without contrac¬ 
tions, was placed at the end of the flume. Francis’ for¬ 
mula for the discharge of water over weirs was adopted 
as the basis of the calculations. 

The following are the official returns : 

FREDENBURR WHEEL. 





Head of 

Cubic ft. 

Weight on 

Revolu¬ 

Horse¬ 

water 

of water 

brakes, lbs. 

tions. 

power. 

over weir, 

per min¬ 


inches. 

ute. 

444 M 

196 

79.2 

4.975 

163.2II 

358 ^ 

260 

84.2 

<< 

i i 

36 1K 

246 

80.8 

a 

a 

338 K 

276 

84.4 

u 

u 

298 

281 

76.I 

i i 

i i 

358 

259 

84.3 

i i 

a 


Other tests were made of this wheel, resulting in an average of 82.925- 
1000 horse-power [?], utilizing 69.6-10 per cent, of the force and impact of 
the water. 


192 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 



PELTON 

WHEEL—FIRST 

TEST. 


Weight on 
brakes, lbs. 

Revolu¬ 

tions. 

Horse¬ 

power. 

Head of 
water 
over weir, 
inches. 

Cubic ft. 
of water 
per min¬ 
ute. 

465 

25434 

IO7.58 

4-975 

163.211 

465 

255 

IO7.79 

< « 

4 ( 

• • 

460 

256 

IO7.O5 

i i 

i i 

460 

256 K 

IO7.26 

< i 

i l 



SECOND 'I EST. 



465 

256 ^ 

108.43 

4-950 

162.98 

470 

249 

IO8.39 

4 i 

i 4 

460 

25734 

IO7.68 

< ( 

< 4 

465 

254 

107-37 

< < 

4 4 


LOWER NOZZLE. 



460 

257 

107.47 

4-950 

162.98 

465 

25434 

107 58 

<< 

4 ( 



STILL LOWER. 



465 

253 

IO6.95 

4-950 

162.98 



HIGH NOZZLE. 



465 

256 

IOS .21 

4.950 

162.98 

465 

249 

IO5.26 

i 4 

u 

Average horse-power, 107.49-100, or 90.2- 

■10 per cent. 



KNIGHT 

WHEEL—FIRST 

TEST. 


Weight on 
brakes, lbs. 

Revolu¬ 

tions. 

Horse¬ 

power. 

Head of 
water 
over weir, 
inches. 

Cubic ft. 
of water 
per min¬ 
ute. 

430 

217 

84.8 

• • • • 

152.60 

400 

233 

84-36 

• • • • 

4 4 

400 

236 

85.S 

• • • • 

t t 

The cubic inches of water 

in this test were reckoned on 

the amount of 

miner’s inches 

used, allowing 

1.40 cubic feet 

per minute for 

1 miner’s inch 

— this shows 77.18 per cent, of the power of the water. 




SECOND TEST. 



460 

241 

100.78 

5-325 

180.72 

475 

204 

88.09 

5-100 

160.35 


Average per cent, of first test, 76.5-10. Average per cent, of second test, 
71.2-10. These were the only tests made of this wheel, the nozzle breaking 
and there being no other on hand. 



VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


193 




TAYLOR WHEEL. 

Head of 

Cubic ft. 

Weight on 

Revolu¬ 

Horse¬ 

water 

of water 

brakes, lbs. 

tions. 

power. 

over weir, 

per min¬ 




inches. 

ute. 

400 

184 

66. gi 

4-975 

163.2H 

3I2K 

254 

72.16 

<« 

a 


Average per cent, of first test, 55.1-10. Average per cent, of second 
test, 60.5-10. 

The accuracy of the weir measurements may be con¬ 
sidered doubtful. From the data obtained it did not ap¬ 
pear that the increased discharge due to velocity of ap¬ 
proach had been taken into account. To check this es- 



Fig. 44. The Pelton Wheel. 


timate of flow the diameter of the nozzle above given 
could not be used, as it was not accurately measured and 
the coefficient of efflux had not been established. How¬ 
ever, sufficient is known to justify the assumption that 
the efficiency of the Pelton wheel is at least 86 per cent. 

Tests at the University of California. —The latest 
and most accurate data are derived from a monograph by 
Ross E. Browne, of the University of California ; these, 
with the permission of the author, are here given entire. 

Hurdy-gurdy wheels are commonly called “ Impact 












194 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 




Fig. 45. 


Fig. 46. 


wheels,” though such a name is misleading, and entirely 
loses its significance when the bucket is given its best 
form. When a jet of water strikes a stationary bucket 
shaped as shown in Fig. 45 or in Fig. 46, as soon as the 
motion has become permanent the wedge-shaped portion 
of the water shaded with horizontal lines be- 

comes practically station¬ 
ary. We have actual im¬ 
pact only for a minute in¬ 
terval of time— i.e.f while 
the wedge is forming. Af¬ 
ter this the water is simply 
deflected from its course, and the bucket becomes almost 
instantaneously a pressure bucket. 

When such a bucket is used for a wheel it is plain that 
this shaded portion of the water is “ carried ” and must 
subsequently escape with nearly the full velocity of the 
bucket. Its useful effect is therefore very small as com¬ 
pared with that of the water actually deflected. No ad¬ 
vantage comes, then, from impact; on the contrary, serious 
losses are due to it. 

The originally flat bucket (see Fig. 45) has been ma¬ 
terially improved : 

1 st. By giving it curvature (see Fig. 46). 

2d. By filling in the wedge and making it a part of 
the bucket. This second improvement brings us to the 
“ Pelton wheel” (see Fig. 53), which is by no means an 
“ impact ” but distinct^ a “ pressure ” wheel. By filling 
in the wedge impact is avoided. The same thing in prin¬ 
ciple could be accomplished with the simply curved 
bucket by having the jet strike one side instead of the 
centre (see Fig. 47). 

A prominent distinction between the Hurdy-gurdy 
wheel and the Partial Turbine rests in the fact that the 
former has “ open ” and the latter “ closed ” buckets. 
When properly constructed the one is no more an “ im¬ 
pact wheel ” than the other. 








VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


195 



The principal sources of loss in Hurdy-gurdy wheels 
are in general: 

1 st. The energy remaining in the water after being 
discharged from the bucket. 

2d. The heat developed by impact of 
the water in striking the bucket. 

3d. The fluid friction of the water in 
passing over the surface of the bucket. 

4th. The loss of head in the nozzle. 

The loss in the supply pipe is not charged 
to the wheel. 

5th. The journal friction. 

6th. The resistance of the air. 

In the formulas below all of these sources of loss but 
the first are neglected ; and for the purpose of weighing 
the importance of curvature in the buckets, it is assumed 
that all of the water escapes from the bucket with the 
same velocity— i.e., no water is “ carried ” with the wheel. 
Let c designate the velocity of the bucket in feet per 

second. 

velocity of the jet escaping from the 
nozzle. 

relative velocity of discharge from 
the bucket. 

absolute velocity of discharge from 
the bucket. 

quantity of water supplied per sec¬ 
ond in cubic feet, 
weight of one cubic foot of water, 
useful work (in foot lbs. per second) 
under the above conditions, 
efficiency of the wheel under the 
above conditions, 
acceleration of gravity, 
angle made by the discharge end of 
the bucket with its line of motion 
(see Fig. 48). 




u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


V 

U 

W 

Q 

y 

L 


g 

o 


u 


u 


u 


u 


a 


n 


u 




u 


u 


a 


u 


a 


u 


u 


u 


a 


u 




196 VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 

Then u — v — c 


w 1 — if- f- c 1 — 2nc COS O = V 1 — ( 2 VC — 2c 2 ) (1 -f- cos d) 
L — (if — w 2 ) — (2 vc — 2c 2 ) ( 1 -\- cos d) 




c 



And by varying the velocity of the 
bucket we have for the greatest effi¬ 
ciency— 



i.e., the velocity of the bucket should be one-half the 
velocity of the supply water (the jet) escaping from the 
nozzle, and this is not very materially modified by intro¬ 
ducing the other conditions. Hence the greatest ef¬ 
ficiency— 

7,= \ 0 +cos 8 ) (2) 


The smaller we make 0 the greater will be this efficiency. 

Flat Buckets. —If the bucket is 
flat, 0 = 90 degrees, hence = 50 per 
cent. ; i.e., 50 per cent, could not be 
reached with flat buckets, on account 
of the sources of loss neglected in 
these formulas. 

A series of experiments were made 
with such flat buckets (see Fig. 50) 
with a y^-inch nozzle. 

The curve of efficiency for various Fig> 49 ‘ 

speeds, as established from these experiments, is shown 
















VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


I97 


in Fig. 56. A J^-inch nozzle gave results but slightly dif¬ 
fering from these. 



(scale Y \) 


Fig. 50. 


The highest result was 40.4 per cent, under 50.2 feet 
head. 

The velocity of the jet being approximately v — .98 

V64.36 X 50.2 = 55.7 feet per second, we should have for 
best efficiency, if the conditions were such as led us to 
equation (1), the velocity of point P of the bucket c — 

v 

— — 27.85. This corresponds to 6.8 revolutions of the 

wheel per second, which is marked by a heavy vertical 
line crossing the curve very near the point of the best 
efficiency actually obtained. 



Fig. 52. 


Fig. 51. 


Curved Buckets. —If 0 could be made =0, we should 
have, under our assumed conditions, r h — 100 per cent. ; 
w would be = o, and the water would simply fall from 
the bucket by its own weight. Evidently, then, o should 













193 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


be made as small as is compatible with clearance of the 
supply jet and the following bucket. Experiments were 
made with such a bucket as shown in Fig. 5 1 i n section, in 
other respects shaped and set upon the rim of the wheel 
as the Pelton bucket (see Fig. 53). 



Fig. 53. Pelton Wheel. 

A y^-inch nozzle was used under head of 50.4 feet. 
The best result reached was 65.6 per cent. The curve of 
efficiency is shown in Fig. 56. The heavy line crossing 
the curve again shows the best speed as calculated 

V 

by making c = —. This marks a speed about one-half 

revolution per second greater than that actually found by 
experiment. 

The Pelton Wheel. —Mr. Pelton kindl) 7 furnished 
a pattern from which buckets were cast, and thirty of 
them attached to the wheel as shown in Fig. 53. A 

















VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


199 


section and an isometric projection of the bucket are 
shown in Fig. 52. The angle d is just sufficient to provide 
against interference of the discharged water with the 
buckets following. 

The face of the bucket is inclined to the diameter of 
the wheel. 


vj 


EFFICIENCY 


** Kj L <> ov Ci ■L b» '-c b 

oooooooooo 



Experiments were first made with seven differen set¬ 
tings of the nozzle. For direction d x (Fig. 53) of jet the 
efficiency was 68.1 per cent., for d 80.5 per cent., for d^ 
78.4 per cent. The nozzle was permanently set to give 
direction d to the jet. 






























200 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


1.00 


.90 


80 


.70 


.60 


PELTON WHEEL , varying the head. 


The efficiency was then determined for various veloci¬ 
ties of the wheel: 

ist. With a 34 -inch nozzle giving 82.5 per cent, as best 
result (see Figs. 54 and 56). 

2d. With a y£-inch nozzle giving 75.6 per cent, as best 
result (see Fig. 54). 

3d. With a W-inch nozzle giving 82.6 per cent, as best 
result. * 

Doubtless the nozzle might have been increased to ]/2 

inch without materially re¬ 
ducing the efficiency. 

Another set of experi¬ 
ments was made with the 
inch nozzle under various 
heads, from 50 feet down to 
8 feet, showing a gradual 
decrease in useful effect (see 
Fig- 55 )- 

At 8 feet the efficiencv 

m/ 

still remained as high as 73 
percent. In experimenting 
with the “ curved buckets’' 
the efficiency might possi¬ 
bly have been raised 2 or 3 
per cent, by attending more 
carefullv to the curve and to 
the size of nozzle used. Still 
there was probably a gain 
of more than 12 per cent, due to the introduction of the 
wedge in the Pelton bucket. 

In comparing the three Hurdy-gurdy wheels experi¬ 
mented with, it is evident from Figs. 52, 46, and 45 that 
the “Pelton bucket” will “carry” the least, and the 
“ curved bucket ” the greatest, quantity of water. This 


o 

2 

ul 


u 

u. 

ID 


.60 


.40 


JO 


20 


.10 


H =» 10 20 30 40 

HEAD or WATER in FEET. 

Fig. 55. 


50 60 


* In view of the fact that Mr. Pelton claims a still higher efficiency for his wheel, it 
should be stated that although he furnished the pattern for the bucket, the wheel does not 
precisely conform in all particulars to his standard. 



















VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


201 


“ carried ” water is the most important of the sources 
of loss not taken into account in equations (i) and (2). 
Hence the approximate best speed as calculated from 
equation (1) differs least from the actual best speed as 
found by experiment, in the case of the “ Pelton bucket,” 
and most in the case of the “ curved bucket ” (see Fig. 



56). It is perfectly safe to say the Pelton bucket should 
have one-half the speed of the supply jet for best effect. 

It is plain that the Pelton wheel has certain advan- 

* The Partial Turbine here mentioned is a Tangential Wheel with inner feed, and was 
specially designed for a small supply jet. 





























































































































































202 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


tages over the Tangential wheel. It is more easily built, 
has a decided advantage in the setting of the nozzle, and 
is not so dependent on the precise size of nozzle used. 
The capacity of these wheels may be doubled by adding 
another nozzle. 

It is quite likely that a wheel considerably larger than 
the one used at the University could be made to give a still 
higher efficiency than the 82 y 2 per cent, found. The 
angles in the pattern for bucket castings could be made 
more accurate. 

THE PAN. 

The pan, an indispensable companion of the gold- 
miner, is pressed from a single piece of Russia sheet iron. 
It is 12 inches in diameter at the bottom and 15 to 16 
inches on the top, the sides inclining outward at an angle 
of about 30 degrees, and turned over a wire around the 
edge to strengthen it. It is used in prospecting, cleaning 
gold-bearing sand, collecting amalgam in the sluices, and, 
in fact, in every branch of the business. 

Its proper manipulation for washing dirt requires a 
certain skill, which can be acquired only by practice. The 
pan, filled with dirt, is submerged in a tub or pool of water 
and the gravel worked with the hands until all cemented 
material is disintegrated. The coarse stones are cleaned 
and thrown out. In washing the residue the pan is held 
in a tilted position. By a circular motion and by careful 
use of the water, into which the pan is continually dipped, 
all the lighter dirt is worked to the top and over the edge 
(pebbles being picked out by hand) until only the fine 
gold and black iron sand remain. 

THE BATEA. 

The batea is a shallow wooden bowl commonly used 
in Brazil and the Spanish-American States for separating, 
on a limited scale, grains of gold from sand, pyritic mat¬ 
ter, and magnetic iron. “A disc of 17 inches diameter, 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 203 

being turned conical 12 degrees, will have a depth of ify 
inches from centre to surface. The thickness may be 
5 /b of an inch. The outer edge, perpendicular to axis, 
will require wood 2*4 inches thick for its construction. 
The best wood is Honduras mahogany.”* 

THE ROCKER. 

The rocker is a box 40 inches long, 16 inches wide on 
the bottom, 1 foot high, with sides sloped like a cradle, 
and with rockers at the middle and back end. 

The upper end is a hopper, 20 inches square, 4 inches 
deep, with a perforated iron bottom with half-inch-diame¬ 
ter holes. This top hopper is removable. Under the per¬ 
forated plate there is a light frame, placed on an incline, 
upon which a canvas apron is stretched, forming a riffle. 

In washing with the rocker the material is thrown into 
the hopper and water is poured on with a dipper held in 



one hand, while with the other hand the cradle is kept 
rocking. The water washes the sand and dirt through the 
bottom of the hopper, and the gold or amalgam is either 
caught in the apron or picked up in the bottom of the 
rocker, while the sand and lighter material are discharged 
at the end, and the coarse material in the hopper is 
thrown aside. In California rockers were extensively 
used before the introduction of ditches, but now they 


* See paper by Melville Attwood, “ Transactions Cal. State Geological Soc.” 
























204 


VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


are employed only when cleaning up placer claims and 
quartz mills, for the collection of finely subdivided parti¬ 
cles of amalgam and quicksilver. 

THE TOM. 

The tom, said to have been an importation 'from 
Georgia, was first used in Nevada County in the latter 
part of 1849. It ^ a cough trough about 12 feet long, 
from 15 inches to 20 inches wide at the top, 30 inches 
wide at the lower end, and 8 inches deep. It is supported 
on timbers or stones, and set on an incline of, say, 12 inches 



l 


Fig. 58. The Tom. 

(or 1 inch per foot). A sheet-iron plate, perforated with 
holes half an inch in diameter, forms the bottom of the 
lower end of the trough, which is bevelled on the lower 
side, so as to have the plate on a level. 

The material, when fed in from sluices, on striking the 
riddle (or perforated plate) is at once sorted, the fine dirt 
with the water passing through it, while the coarser stuff 
is shovelled off. 

Under the perforated plate there is a flat box set on an 
incline, into which the finer gravel passes. By the con¬ 
tinual discharge of the water through the plate, and with 
the occasional aid of the shovel, the sand is kept loose, 
allowing the gold to settle. Since the introduction of 
sluices the tom has disappeared. 




































VARIOUS MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. 


205 


THE PUDDLING BOX. 

The puddling box is a wooden box, usually 6 feet 
square and 18 inches deep, arranged with plugs for dis¬ 
charging the contents. The box is filled with water and 
clayey dirt containing gold. By continuous stirring with 
a rake the clay is dissolved in the water and run off. 
The concentrated material collected in the bottom is 
washed subsequently in a pan or rocker. The puddling 
box has been used to a very limited extent in California, 
but in Australia, according to Forbes, no less than 3,950 
of them, worked by horse-power, were in use in Victoria 
alone in i860.* 


AMALGAM KETTLES. 

The amalgam and quicksilver kettles are ordinary 
sheet-iron buckets or porcelain-lined iron kettles. In 
cleaning up they are especially used as receptacles for 
floating the gold amalgam. The amalgam, previous to 
straining and retorting, is floated in quicksilver in order 
to free it of all foreign substances. 


* J. R. Forbes, “ Mining and Metallurgy of Gold and Silver.” 


CHAPTER XIII. 


BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 

Where the deposits are very strongly cemented blast¬ 
ing is necessary. 

The ordinary method of blasting gravel banks is as 
follows : A drift is run in from the face on the bottom of 
the deposit a distance proportionate to the height of the 
bank (as a general rule not over three-quarters of this for 
high banks) and the character of the ground to be moved. 
From the end of this drift a cross drift is driven each way 
(forming a T). The cross drift is charged with kegs of 
powder, the main drift is securely tamped by filling it up 
solid with the material which has been extracted, and the 
powder is exploded by means of a time fuse or an electric 
battery. In some instances when the ground is “ heavy 
and bound ” several cross drifts are used The amount 
of powder used is determined by the position, character, 
and height of the bank, a quantity sufficient only to shat¬ 
ter the ground being employed. 

Blast at Smartsville. —The following details of 
several large blasts are given as illustrating the general 
facts. A blast of 450 kegs of black powder was made at 
Smartsville in hard cement with an 8o-foot bank, the 
ground being ordinarily bound ( i.e ., with two sides free). 
The main powder drift was run in from the face of the 
bank 85 feet, cross drifts being opened each side 40 feet 
and 85 feet from the mouth. Each cross drift was 45 feet 
long, and from its ends and centres two “ lifters ” were 
driven at right angles to it, extending respectively half 
way to the next cross drifts and to the face of the bank. 
After charging the cross drifts the main drift was tamped 
and the powder exploded by means of an electric battery. 


BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 


20 7 


The arrangement of the powder chambers fora 1,201- 
keg blast made by the Smartsville Hydraulic Mining 
Company in December, 1868, is shown in the following 
diagram. 



4Q-B- 


5 ' 


o 

m 


—BHf- 

-Bn 



N 

( 

\ 

C 


o 

m 


-B-*- 


O 


-B- 


X ©SHAFT 


X was a shaft 74 feet deep, from the bottom of which 
the main drift, A, was driven 185 feet. The cross drifts, 

B, three in number, were driven 
at distances respectively of 70 
leet, 120 leet, and 170 feet from 
the shaft, X. They extended 
!p' each 20 feet on one side of the 
main drift and 40 feet on the 
other side. The several drifts 
marked C are called “ lifters.” 
Each “lifter” was 15 feet long. 
The total length of the drifts 
aggregated 570feet. They were 
2 l / 2 feet wide and 3 y 2 feet high 
The cross drifts were charged 
with 1,201 kegs (25 pounds each) 
of black powder. The main 
drift was securely tamped from 
the shaft to the first cross drift, 
a distance of 70 feet. The pow¬ 
der was simultaneously ignited 
by electricity at 12 different 
points. 

The ground moved was 270 
feet long, 180 feet wide, with an 
average depth of 100 feet. The 
cost of the blast was about 
$6,000. 

Blue Point Blast. —A 

large blast of 2,000 kegs (25 
pounds each) was exploded De¬ 
cember 29, 1870, at the Blue 


Fig. 59. 

Point Mine, Sucker Flat, Nevada County. The main drift 

















208 


BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 


was 325 feet long - . Commencing at the upper end of the 
drift, a cross drift was run 80 feet to the right and 120 feet 
to the left. Five additional cross drifts of similar length 
were driven from the main drift 50 feet apart, the last one 
being opened at a point 75 feet distant from the entrance 
of the tunnel. There were three lifters in this last cross 
drift, two in the left arm and one at the end of the right 
arm. The main drift was tamped from the entrance to 
the first cross-drift. The drifts were 3 by 4 feet in size. 
The blast was simultaneously fired at ten different points 
by electricity. The mass shattered was reported as 200 
feet long, 150 feet wide, and 73 feet deep. 

At the Enterprise Mine, Nevada County, with 250 feet 
bank, a blast of 1,700 kegs was fired. 

Paragon Mine Blast. —In 1874 there was a blast of 
700 kegs black powder set off at the Paragon Mine, Placer 
County. The details of the drifts arranged for the blasts 
are shown in Fig. 60. 

The main drift, A, was tamped for 75 feet from the 
near end, and the cross drifts tamped 10 feet each way, a 
space being left in the lifters for the expansion of the gas 
generated by the explosion of the powder. The drifts 
were 47^ feet high and 5 feet wide, and the bank was 150 
high. The blast was fired by electricity, and the ground 
covered by the drifts was thoroughly shattered. 

A blast of 3,500 pounds of giant powder No. 2 was fired, 
in 1872, in the Harriman and Taylor claim at Gold Run, 
Placer County, and is reported to have thrown down 
200,000 cubic yards of gravel. 

Dardanelles Mine Blast. —At the Dardanelles Hy¬ 
draulic and Drift Mine near Forest Hill, Placer County, a 
blast was made with 36,400 pounds of Judson powder (old), 
shattering about 500,000 cubic )mrds of cement gravel. 
The gravel bank had a face ot some 1,200 feet in length, 
with a height of 175 feet. This deposit reposed on a ris¬ 
ing bed-rock. Five parallel drifts, 180 feet apart, were 
run in from the face a length of 70 feet each. From the 


BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 


209 


end of each of these drifts two arms (right and left) or 
cross cuts were driven 70 feet long, thus leaving a space 
of 40 feet between the ends of the cross cuts from the 
several main drifts. The powder, in 50-pound boxes, was 
charged in lots of 1,000 to 1,500 pounds in the different 
chambers. In each chamber three exploders were placed 


B 60' x B 70' 







V 

Fig. 60. 

in the powder, each exploder being carefully connected 
by an insulated copper wire with the main wires on the 
outside of the drifts. 

The drifts were all well tamped with clay and boul¬ 
ders. The wires from the exploders connected outside of 
the main drifts with two copper wires from an electro¬ 
magnetic battery which was situated to the right and 
about 200 feet from the face of the bank. When every¬ 
thing was ready (November 8, 1879) the blast was fired. 
The back ground was raised bodily 4 or 5 feet, and the 
face was thrown forward. 







210 


BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 


At the Blue Tent Mine, Nevada County, in 1880, a 
bank 200 feet high was thrown down with 43,000 pounds 
of powder. 

Blasting' Powder. —Common blasting powder was 
almost universally used up to 1876. Since that time 
Judson powder has been introduced, and combinations-of 
black blasting powder and Giant powder also have been 
experimented with. Giant powder is extensively used for 
breaking up lava, pipe-clay, boulders, trunks and stumps 
of trees, for all of which purposes it is found to be very 
efficient. 

Methods of Blasting. —In certain districts it is 
customary to wash off the top or lighter gravel and subse¬ 
quently blast the bottom cement. For this purpose shafts 
15 to 20 feet deep are sunk to the bed-rock, and a small 
chamber is excavated at the bottom. This chamber is 
charged with a few kegs of powder and tamped, and a 
blast is fired by means of a fuse. 

The want of proper information concerning the use 
and application of powder to bank-blasting has undoubt¬ 
edly caused a great waste of explosives, and the subject 
is well worthy of investigation with a view to future im¬ 
provement. 

In blasting gravel banks it is desirable to thorough¬ 
ly shatter the material. To accomplish this purpose 
one must be governed by the character of the ground 
in the selection of the powder. In hard cemented de¬ 
posits quick powders like the Judson (a low-grade nitro¬ 
glycerine powder) and the Vulcan B B are found to work 
better than black powder; while the latter does fully as 
much work in softer ground, a slow-lifting powder is in 
such cases all that is requisite. 

With very high banks it is more economical to blow 
out the bottom and not attempt to raise the superincum¬ 
bent mass. The charge should be placed so that the line 
of least resistance is horizontal. 

With banks from 50 to 150 feet high, and likewise in 



BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 


21 I 


cement gravel of ordinary tenacity, the following method 
has been found to give excellent results. 

The main drift should be run in a distance of two-thirds 
the height of the bank to be blasted. The cross drifts 
from the end of the main drift should be driven parallel 
with the face of the bank, and their lengths determined 
by the extent of the ground which is to be moved. A 
single T is all that is necessary. 

The minimum amount of powder required is from io 
to 20 pounds per 1,000 cubic feet of ground covered by 
the drifts. The quantity used necessarily varies with the 
character of the gravel. When the banks are strongly 
bound or the gravel is very tenacious the quantity must 
be increased. Small blasts, everything else being equal, 
require a larger amount in proportion to the ground than 
large ones, varying in practice from io to 50 pounds for 
each 1,000 cubic feet. It is usually expected that a blast 
will prepare nearly double the quantity of the ground 
covered by the drifts. 

The annexed table is a record of all the large bank blasts 
fired on the Milton Mining and Water Company’s property 
at Manzanita Hill, Sweetland, Nevada County, during a 
period of three years. These blasts were made under the 
immediate direction of Richard Thomas, foreman. 

The top gravel had been previously washed off, leav¬ 
ing banks from 50 to 150 feet in height. The gravel is 
usually hard, and cemented for 50 feet (rarely higher) 
from the bottom. Above this cemented material the 
gravel is comparatively soft and easily bioken, and 
therefore the amount of powder employed is propor¬ 
tionately lessened as the banks increase in height. 

From the appearance of the ground subsequently 
washed it was estimated that 225 to 230 cubic feet 
were shattered per pound of powder exploded* 


* “ Report upon the Blasting Operations at Lime Point, California, by Lieutenant- 
Colonel G. H. Mendell, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.,” gives interesting details of large 
blasts in rock formation. 


TABLE XXIV. 


Bank Blasting at the Manzanita A/ine, Sweetland, Nevada Co. t Cal. 



A 

B 

C 

A * B * C 


of 

per 

.ft. 

d. 


Vt-t 


U-i 

4-» 

1) 

X C 

Date. 




<V H3 

c 

1 f. T3 
*2 * 

i 2 


to a 
'S P3 

X 

Main 

Dri 

btL- 

c 

V 

►J 

•J°f 

u 0 

E 0 

0 ^ 

Ph 

g I §2 

oP, 

Ph 


Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Cubic feet. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

February, 1879. • 

67 

65 

124 

550,000 

6,750 

12.27 

March, “ .. 

56 

36 

86 

173,000 

2,150 

12 .43 

u 66 

107 

90 

151 

I , 454 ,°co 

15,250 

10.50 

6 6 66 

90 

42 

56 

212,000 

2,000 

9-43 

April, “ .. 

83 

75 

82 

510,000 

5,500 

10.78 

May, “ .. 

86 

74 

114 

725,000 

8,550 

M 

M 

CO 

0 

J une, 44 .. 

70 

56 

169 

662,000 

8,500 

12.77 

6 6 6 6 

100 

83 

159 

1,304,000 

16,000 

12.27 

July, 

80 

61 

82 

400,000 

5,300 

13.25 

August, 44 .. 

78 

66 

117 

602,000 

10,500 

17.44 

September, “ .. 

55 

46 

79 

200,000 

4,000 

20. 

6 6 6 6 

40 

46 

66 

121,000 

2,000 

16.52 

6 6 6 6 

82 

70 

124 

712,000 

11,250 

I5-80 

October “ .. 

70 

53 

113 

419,000 

7,000 

16.70 

January, 1880.. 

35 

44 

72 * 

111,000 

2,000 

18. 

6 6 6 6 

60 

60 

80 

288,COO 

5,100 

17.70 

February, “ .. 

30 

76 * 

80 

183,000 

3,100 

16.94 

April, 44 .. 

85 

83 

138 

973,000 

14,500 

14.9O 

6 6 6 6 

70 

44 

55 

169,000 

3,250 

19.22 

May, “ .. 

95 

79 

114 

855,000 

16,250 

19 . 

June, “ .. 

16 

4 i 

42 

27,000 

625 

22.72 

6 6 6 6 

60 

57 

98 

355,000 

5,625 

16.80 

6 6 6 6 

70 

7 i 

139 

691,000 

13,000 

l8.8l 

July, “ .. 

60 

54 

106 

343 ,ooo 

6,300 

18.37 

6 6 6 6 

45 

5 i 

90 

206,000 

4 , 5 oo 

21.79 

August, 44 . . 

85 

75 

155 

988,000 

14,500 

14.67 

September/ 4 .. 

70 

66 

136 

628,000 

12,000 

19. II 

November, 44 .. 

50 

56 

109 

305,000 

5,000 

16.39 

6 6 6 6 

80 

78 

150 

936,000 

13,500 

14.42 

December, “ .. 

100 

105 

128 

1,344,000 

18,750 

14 - 

March, 1881.. 

100 

87 

163 

1,418,000 

14,000 

9.87 

April, 44 .. 

90 

, 9 ° 

165 

1,336,000 

14,000 

IO.47 

6 6 6 6 

35 

40 

62 

87,000 

2,500 

28.74 

May, 44 .. 

90 

69 

89 

553 ,ooo 

8,750 

15.82 

6 6 6 6 

95 

80 

126 

958,000 

13,750 

14-35 

June, 44 .. 

no 

89 

148 

1,449,000 

17,500 

12.08 

6 6 6 6 

57 

61 

79 

275,000 

3,800 

13.80 

July, “ •• 

65 

65 

145 

613,000 

8,000 

13.05 

6 i 6 6 

no 

63 

97 

672,000 

9,500 

14.13 

August, 44 .. 

45 

52 

67 

157,000 

3,350 

21.33 

6 i 6 6 

100 

89 

157 

1,397,000 

16,000 

11.45 

6 6 6 6 

85 

81 

132 

909,000 

13.000 

14.30 

September, 44 .. 

100 

45 

93 

418,000 

5,000 

II.96 

< C 6 6 

100 

80 

128 

1,024,000 

15,000 

14.65 

October, 44 .. 

90 

76 

127 

869,000 

13,000 

14.96 


100 

54 

124 

670,000 

8,000 

11.94 

November, 44 .. 

70 

63 

IOI 

465,000 

6,500 

14. 

6 6 6 6 

70 

57 

45 

180,000 

6,500 

36.II 


45 

50 

90 

202,000 

4,500 

22.27 

Totals . 

3,632 

3 > i 94 t 2 tt 

5 , 352 * 

30,098,000 

425,400 


Averages. 

14.13 

74tV 

65 * 

io 9 * 






February, 1883.. 

190 

65.5 

123 

D 53 o ,735 

9,500 

6.20 

March, 44 .. 

190 

81 

136 

2,093,040 

14,000 

6.68 


In the blasts here recorded Judson powder chiefly was used, only a small proportion being 
Black powder and Vulcan B B. 


212 





































BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 


213 


Firing* by Electricity.— The firing of blasts by 
means of electricity requires that great care should be 
taken of the wires while tamping, and where dynamite 
exploders with platinum wires are used the “compound 
circuit ” is most desirable. A paper entitled “ On the 
Simultaneous Ignition of Thousands of Mines,” by Julius 
IT. Striedinger, published in the “ Transactions ” for June, 
1877, of the American Society of Civil Engineers, con¬ 
tains much valuable information on the subject. 

In charging the drifts the powder (in boxes or kegs) is 
piled up in rows; two wires, A A and D D (see Fig. 61), 



Fig. 61. 


extend along the middle row, the tops of the boxes on 
which wires rest being removed. The exploders, b, b, b, 
are inserted in giant-powder cartridges and placed on 
top of the paper covering the powder. 

The wires A A and D D are then connected with the 
wires Y Y' and Z Z', which extend to the battery. 

Tamping. —Great care should be used to prevent 
the “blowing-out” of the tamping, which results not 
only in considerable loss of effect, but often causes great 
destruction to property and even to life. It is advisable, 
when firing blasts by fuse, to tamp nearly the entire main 
drift. The gravel extracted from the drift is used for 
this purpose, and should be fairly dry and as free as possi¬ 
ble from large stones, which cause great damage in case 







214 


BLASTING GRAVEL BANKS. 


of a blow-out. The tamping- must be firmly rammed by 
wooden mauls, so that it will not settle from the roof of 
the drift. In order to guard against failure through 
defective fuse it is customary to use two or three lines, 
which are simultaneously ignited. 

Firing by electricity has the advantage of requiring 
less tamping and of permitting it to be placed in the cross 
drifts between the two chambers of powder, which are 
simultaneously fired—a result that could not be effected 
by fuse. The force from the explosion from the two 
chambers, acting upon the tamping from opposite sides, 
prevents its being blown out; and therefore when drifts 
are fired in this way it is necessary to tamp but a short 
distance in the cross drifts and but a few feet in the main 
drift. 

Owing, however, to the many failures arising from de¬ 
fective batteries and connections, the miners generally 
have abandoned the use of the electric battery. 



CHAPTER XIV. 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 

Tunnels. —Tunnels are run for the purpose of open¬ 
ing gravel claims (where open cuts are impossible on ac¬ 
count of the formation of the ground), and also to afford 
proper facilities for removing the washed material. 

A tunnel should be driven well into the channel be¬ 
fore any connection is made with the surface. 

Shafts for Tunnels. —The shaft which connects 
with the headings should be vertical, though in some 
cases inclines have been used. Its size is determined 
by the requirements of the work, and varies, for ordi¬ 
nary cases, from 3 by 3 feet to 4^ by 9 feet in the 
clear. When raising from the tunnel due precaution 
should be taken against accidents arising from the rush 
of water, sand, and gravel, which is liable to occur on 
tapping the bottom of a deposit. A shaft 4 y 2 by 9 
feet should be divided into two compartments, one of 
which will serve as a man-way. A compartment 4 by 
4 feet in the clear is ample for the water-way. 

It may be noted that a vertical shaft, when properly 
timbered, is the most desirable and economical for open¬ 
ing hydraulic claims, and with drops of 300 feet no trouble 
has been experienced. There is no difficulty in connect¬ 
ing directly with the tunnel where the work is done well 
and the mine properly opened. But where washing is 
going on through a shaft into a tunnel in process of ex¬ 
tension, it is convenient to have the shaft located at one 
side and connected with the tunnel by a short drift. By 
this means the work in the tunnel can progress while the 
washing is carried on. 


216 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


Shaft Timbering’. —Where a shaft is in hard rock, 
and no man-way is needed, timbering is unnecessary ; but 
in soft rock or gravel, to avoid any accident or delay the 
shafts should be strongly timbered, closely lagged, and 
lined on the inside with blocks (6 to io inches thick) to 
within 8 to 30 feet of the surface, the depth being depen¬ 
dent on the softness of the gravel. This top, being the 
first washed off, thereby gives the initial grade for the 
ground sluices. As washing proceeds the upper lining 
and timbers are removed to enable the material to be 
drawn into the shaft. A shaft in hard rock can be par¬ 
titioned for a man-way with stoll-timbers firmly wedged 
and blocked. 

No extraordinary precaution is required for the pro¬ 
tection of the bottom of the shaft, the material washed 
being allowed to drop directly on the bed rock, where it 
soon wears a hole, in which the large stones from the 
mine lodge and form a pavement. At the junction of the 
shaft and the tunnel the latter should be increased in 
height at least 50 or 75 per cent. 

Second Shaft. —With long tunnels it is advisable to 
sink a second shaft at a convenient distance from the 
heading. Formerly, as a precautionary measure, a man 
was placed in the tunnel to watch the washings, and in 
such cases a second shaft was indispensable. It is now 
customary, when washing into a shaft, to provide a swing¬ 
ing door over the sluice, about 75 feet below its head, and 
connected by chain and ropes to a signal on top of the 
shaft which gives the pipe-men notice in case of overflow. 

Should an accident occur at the main shaft by its cav¬ 
ing or closing up, the second shaft might afford the neces¬ 
sary facilities for continuing the work. When a line of 
pipe is carried down the second shaft for the purpose of 
assisting in opening the closed one, great precaution must 
be used in piping, particularly if the closed shaft is filled 
with water. When this expedient has to be resorted to 
it is usual to place the pipes in position and withdraw the 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


217 


workmen before the water is turned on; and if the block¬ 
ade is not broken in a reasonable time the water is shut 
off, men go down and extend the pipes nearer the block¬ 
ade, and again the water is turned on, and the operation 
is continued until the blockade is broken. If the shaft or 
tunnel is closed by gravel mixed with heavy boulders it 
is necessary often to employ powder. 

First Washing*. —The first washings through a shaft 
should be done with care, and the surface within as great 
a radius as can be conveniently washed and drawn should 
be cleared on all sides before taking off the top timbers. 
Attempts to push this preliminary work have frequently 
caused an over crowding of the shaft, resulting in its 
filling up or caving. It is therefore essential that the 
gravel should be run so as to avoid the rush of material 
from caves. 

Size of Tunnel. —The size of the tunnel is generally 
dependent on the size of the sluice. It is usually driven 
2 to 3 feet wider than the inside width of the sluice, and 
7^ to 8 feet high. These proportions permit the proper 
construction of the sluice and give sufficient room for the 
blocks and for the workmen when cleaning up. The 
grade depends on the topography of the country. 

Location of Tunnels. —In locating the mouth of a 
drainage tunnel (or of an open cut) that point is to be 
selected from which the sluices, running on the most 
direct practicable line, with a given grade, can bottom the 
maximum extent of the “ pay channel ” at the smallest 
expense. Due regard should be had to the dump, and 
allowances made for contingencies arising from changes, 
such as depressions and holes in the bed-rock. 

Where the bed-rock disintegrates on exposure to the 
air an extra allowance for depth is advisable. This ad¬ 
ditional depth is a matter of judgment, and is regulated 
by the character and peculiarities of the bed-rock, extent 
of ground to be worked, and the position of the shaft. It 
is always possible to “ ease up” the grade ; but if the main 


218 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


line of drainage is once fixed and proves to be too high, 
it is a source of endless expense, frequently fatal to the 
enterprise. Many instances could be cited where, for 
want of properly conducted preliminary investigations, 
tunnels have been driven on too high a level and thereby 
the enterprises have resulted in failures. 

At the Pioneer Mine, Grass Flat, Plumas County, the 
original owners in opening their claim ran a tunnel 4,000 
feet long. When midway in the channel the tunnel was 
found to be 22 feet above the bed-rock. The sum of $60,- 
000 expended in this work was a total loss, and the sub¬ 
sequent purchasers were obliged to expend over $100,000 
in properly opening the mine. 

SLUICES. 

The name “sluice” was originally applied by the 
miner to the sluice box. Subsequently several sluice 
boxes were joined together for permanent washing, and 
the word “flume” was used synonymously. The word 
sluice used in the text refers only to troughs, cuts, or 
boxes in which or through which gravel or dirt is 
washed, in contradistinction to the term flume, which is 
applied solely to wooden structures used for water con¬ 
duits. 

To secure the maximum discharge sluices should be 
set on straight lines so far as possible, and where curves 
occur the outer side of the box should be slightly raised, 
in order to cause a more general distribution of the ma¬ 
terials over the riffles. When lines of sluices have fre¬ 
quent curves it is customary to make no changes in the 
grades, although to secure the greatest flow of material 
doubtless provision should be made to overcome retarda¬ 
tion by increased grades at and below the curves. Sluices 
with drops are highly desirable for saving gold. 

Grade. —The facility with which gravel can be moved 
depends mainly on the inclination which is given to the 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


219 


sluices. 1 he question of grade is therefore one of vital 
importance, and to properly investigate and determine 
this point great care and skill are requisite. When the 
topography of the country admits of unlimited fall the 
grade upon which the sluices are set should be regulated 
by the character of the gravel. Where the wash is coarse 
and cemented, requiring blasting, or where there is much 
pipe-clay, a heavy grade is necessary. Strongly cement¬ 
ed gravel requires drops to break it up. 

General Grade Adopted. —Experience thus far has 
led to the adoption in most localities of what is called a 6 
or 6j^-inch grade, meaning 6 or 6 1 /. inches to the box 12 
feet long, or, say, a 4 to 4^ per cent, grade. In some 
places, where large quantities of pipe-clay are washed off, 
9 and 12-inch grades to the box are used (6 to 8 per cent.) 
In others, on account of natural obstacles encountered, a 
1 ^2 per cent, grade, or 2 to 3 inches per box of 16 feet, is 
used. 

Light gravel containing clay or earthy matter can be 
moved on an easier grade and with less water than heavy 
gravel; nevertheless, when a 4^ per cent, grade can be 
obtained it is desirable, as it lessens the labor of handling 
rocks and more material can be washed. Moreover, as 
light gravel is generally poor in gold, this deficiency 
can be made up only by washing large quantities. Light 
gravel requires that the water should be run with suf¬ 
ficient force to carry off the rocks washed through the 
sluice, and yet be in only sufficient volume to prevent 
the packing of black and heavy sand. If too much water 
is used by superincumbent pressure the sand drops and 
packs the riffles. 

The best results are obtained with shallow streams on 
light grades. Coarse gravel demands from four to seven 
per cent, grades and a proportionate increase of water. 
In washing this heavy material the water in the sluice 
should be deep enough (10 to 12 inches) to cover the 
largest boulders ordinarily sent down. 


220 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


As a larger volume of water is sent through a sluice 
running heavy cement gravel, more material can be trans¬ 
ported and washed if a proper proportion of light and 
heavy gravel is made. The rocks and cement, as dis¬ 
charged into the sluices, keep the sand stirred and pre¬ 
vent its packing, while the cement, rolling along the 
sluice, is disintegrated. 

At Forest Hill Divide some of the mines use a grade 
of io to 24 inches per 12 feet. The reason for this exces¬ 
sive grade is the scarcity of water and the heavy material, 
it being necessary to run rocks as large as can pass 
through a four-foot flume. 

Size of Sluice. —The size of the sluice depends on 
the grade, character of the gravel, and quantity of water 
to be used. A sluice' 6 feet wide and 36 inches deep on a 
4 or 5 per cent, grade will suffice for running 2,000 to 

3.500 inches of water. One 4 feet wide, 30 inches deep, 
on a grade of 4 inches to 16 feet, will suffice for 800 to 

1.500 inches of water, and on a 4 per cent, grade it is 
large enough for 2,000 inches. A sluice 3 feet wide and 
30 inches deep, with a 1 x / 2 per cent, grade, is suitable for 
600 to 1,000 inches. 

As to the length, the principle is to construct the line 
sufficiently long to insure the most complete disintegra¬ 
tion of the material, affording ample surface for the grind¬ 
ing of the cement, and the best facilities for the gold to 
settle in the riffles. The length of the sluice employed 
should be governed by its yield, the rule being to keep 
extending the sluice so long as the yield exceeds the ex¬ 
pense. 

Details of Construction. —Sluices of a width of 
4 feet and upward are made of 1 ^4 or 2 inch plank, with 
sills and posts of 4 by 4 or 4 by 6 inch scantling. To 
guard against leakage of quicksilver it is important that 
the bottom should be tight. To secure this the bottom 
planks should be of half-seasoned lumber, free from knots, 
and the joints grooved and a dry, soft pine tongue in- 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


221 


serted. The bottom and sides are spiked together gene¬ 
rally with nails four inches apart. It is not necessary to 
plane either the bottom or side planks. In many cases the 
planks are simply fitted well and closely nailed together. 

The sills are placed from 3 to 4 feet apart, depend¬ 
ing upon the size of the scantling used, which is regulated 
by the width of the sluice ; thus a 4-foot sluice would re¬ 
quire a sill 7 feet long, of 4 by 6 or 4 by 4 inch stuff. The 
posts are halved into the sills and firmly spiked, and every 
second or third post should be supported by an angle 
brace. The bottom planks should be solidly secured to 
the sills by a liberal use of heavy spikes. The bottom of 
a new sluice is liable to be raised by the pressure of the 
water which collects under it and finds no discharge. 
To avoid this the flume should be heavily weighted down 
by loading the ends of the sills with stones. In tunnels 
the ends of the sills can be held down by braces extend¬ 
ing to the rock overhead. 

North Bloomfield Tunnel Sluice. —The annexed 
diagrams give the detailed construction of the tunnel 
sluice box used at the North Bloomfield Mine. The box 
is 6 feet wide and 12 feet long, with sides 32 inches deep. 

To each sluice box are used : 

e 


8 Posts. 4 inches X 6 inches X 3 feet 2 inches. 

4 Sills. 4 “ X 6 “ X 8 “ 

3 Bottom planks.2 “ X 24 “ X 12 “ 

4 Side planks. “ X 16 “ X 12 “ 

2 Top rails. 2 “ X 8 “ X 12 “ 

16 Braces. 2 “ X 4 “ X 2 “ 


On the outside of the tunnel the sills and braces are 
longer. The nails for the bottoms are 30^/., for the sides 
20 d. The side lining, composed of worn blocks when 
available, is 3 inches thick, 18 to 20 inches deep, and is set 
2^ to 3 >4 inches above the bottom. The riffle strips, 
between the blocks, are 1 % by 3 inches and 5 feet 11 
inches long. The blocks are 13 inches deep and 20^ 
inches square, and average about 19 to the box. Where 








Fig. 64 



LONGITUDINAL SECTION A B 


LITTLE FLUME 
FOR 

CLEAN UP 
WATER 


ELEVATION 




j^gggg 


Figs. 62. 63, and 64. Funnel Sluice Box at North Bloomfield. 


222 

































































































































































































TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


223 


stone riffles are used the bottom of the sluice is lined 
with rough plank. 

The top sluice on one side is for carrying sipage water 
when the blocks are being set. It is 13 inches wide and 
14 inches deep, and is made of i^-inch plalik. 

Bed-Rock Claim Sluice Boxes. —At the Bed-Rock 
Claim, Nevada County, the tunnel sluice boxes are 14 
feet long, 5 feet wide, and 32 inches deep. The details of 
a box are as follows : 


4 Sills. 4 inches X 6 inches X 7 feet. 

8 Posts. 4 “ X 6 “ X 3 “ 2 inches. 

16 Braces. “ X 4 “ X 2 “ 

2 Top rails. 2 “ X 7 “ X 14 “ 

3 Bottom planks. 1% “ X 20 “ X 14 “ 

2 Tongues . 1 “ X 34 “ X 14 “ 

2 Side planks. 134 “ X 20 “ X 14 “ 

2 “ “ . i T ^ “ X 12 “ X 14 “ 

9 Riffle strips. \\ “ X 3 “ X 5 “ 


28 Lineal feet side lining (blocks 3 inches X 20 inches). 

28 Lineal feet bracing to hold down sluice, 4 inches X 6 inches. 
27 Blocks, 17 inches square, 13 inches deep. 

In the construction of a box there are used : 


Lumber and side lining, 650 feet, at $20. $13 00 

Blocks, 704 “ “ $14. 9 86 

Nails, 20 lbs. “ 5 cents. 1 00 

Labor at $2 50 to $3 per day. 7 00 

Cost per box. $30 86 


La Grange Sluice Boxes. —At the La Grange 
Mine, Tuolumne County, a sluice box 4 feet wide, 32 
inches deep, and 16 feet long is built as follows: 


4 Sills. 4 inches X 6 inches X 7 feet. 

2 End posts. 4 “ X 6 “ X 3 “ 2 inches. 

6 Intermediate posts .... 4 “ X 4 “ X 3 “ 2 

16 Braces. 1 “ X 6 “ X 3 “ 

2 Bottom planks. i 34 “ X 24 “ X 16 “ 

4 Side planks . i 1 ^ “ X 16 “ X 16 “ 

2 Side linings. i 34 “ X 8 X 16 

2 Top rails. i 34 ** X 8 “ X 16 “ 

12 Riffle bars. 1% “ X 2 “ X 4 “ 


Aggregating 420 feet of lumber. 

36 Blocks, 14 inches square and 8 inches deep. 



































224 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


To each box 15 pounds of nails are used—viz.: 

12 Nails, iod., side lining to sides. 


160 “ 

12 d., 

braces to posts and sills 

40 “ 

iod ., 

posts to sills. 

76 “ 

i i 

sides to bottoms. 

36 

< < 

blocks to riffle bars. 

32 “ 

< < 

bottom sides to posts. 

64 “ 

« < 

top sides “ “ 

50 “ 

30^., 

bottoms to sills. 

50 “ 

4 i 

top rails to posts and sic 


The cost per box was: 

420 feet lumber, at 3 cents per foot. $12 60 

36 Blocks, “35 “ . 12 60 

15 lbs. Nails, “ 4}^ “ . 64 

Labor at $1 to $2 50 per day. 2 50 


Total.$28 34 

Riffles.— The use of riffles dates back to the earliest 
days of gold-washing-. Blankets, hides with the hair 
turned uppermost, and grass sods were employed by the 
primitive South American miners, and also steps cut in 
the bare bed-rock. In California every variety has been 
tried, but blocks and rocks are now generally used. 

The character of the riffle employed is dependent 
upon the length of the sluice, while the length of the 
sluice, in turn, depends upon the hardness of the gravel, 
and more especially upon the character of the gold—scale 
gold, with large amounts of black sand and tine sulphur- 
ets, escaping all riffles for long distances. 

Block Riffles. —Block riffles are square wooden 
blocks 8 to 13 inches deep, set on end in rows across the 
sluice, with each row separated by a space of 1 to 1}^ 
inches. They are kept in position by riffle strips, 1 */* inches 
thick by 2 or 3 inches wide, held crosswise on the bottom, 
between the rows, by the side lining, and secured to 
the blocks by means of headless nails. Block riffles are 
also set and firmly held in position by means of soft pine 
wedges driven between the blocks and the sides of the 










TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


sluice. When wedges are used the sides of the blocks 
should be square where they adjoin one another. A side 
lining is required in all sluices. In cement claims blocks 
3 inches thick, and covering 18 to 20 inches (in depth) of 
the side, are used for side lining. 

Advantage of Block Riffles. —The advantages af¬ 
forded by blocks, which should always be used at the 
heads of sluices, are : 

1 st. The cross riffle which they make is not excelled 
by any other form. 

2d. Their cheapness under ordinary conditions of 
timber supply. 

3d. The convenience of cleaning up, which can be 
quickly and cheaply done. 

This last circumstance is of especial importance, be¬ 
cause it is often desirable to collect the gold at frequent 
intervals, as it is injudicious to expose amalgam collected 
in the riffles to wear by the gravel running over it for 
long periods. 

Experience shows square block riffles to be the best 
for saving gold. The objection to their use is the cost of 
wear and tear. Rocks are the most economical substi¬ 
tute, but sluices set with them require steeper grades and 
more water. 

Life of Blocks. —The life of a block depends on the 
quality of the wood, the grade, the character and quan¬ 
tity of the gravel, and the amount of water. The larger 
the amount of water (on the same grade) in proportion 
to that of gravel, the less the wear of the blocks. The 
quality of the wood varies greatly in different localities. 
The best and most desirable timber comes from the 
higher sierra. Wood which is long-grained and “ brooms 
up” makes the best riffle. Hard timber which wears 
smooth (as oak) is not desirable. Nut pine is the best, 
but it is difficult to obtain. Pitch pine answers all re¬ 
quirements. As a rule the price of lumber governs the 
selection. 



226 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


In the 6-foot sluices of the North Bloomfield Mine, 
with a 4^ per cent, grade, the blocks, which are 13 inches 
deep and 20 inches square, last for a run of 175,000 to 
200,000 inches of water. At the Manzanita and French 
Corral mines the sluices are 5 feet wide and have a grade 
of 4per cent. The blocks, of the same size as the last, 
but of rather poorer timber, have a life generally of 125,- 
000 to 150,000, sometimes of only 100,000, inches of water. 

At La Grange, in 4-foot sluices on 2 per cent, grades, 
the blocks, 14 inches square and 8 inches deep, are esti¬ 
mated to last an average of six months, during which time 
about 100,000 to 110,000 inches of water are run over 
them. 

After each run the blocks are turned and replaced in 
the sluice, if not worn down too much. A block reduced 
to 5, or at most 4, inches in depth is considered unservice¬ 
able. In repaving with old blocks the edge worn down 
the most is placed up-stream. As the blocks do not fill 
the whole width of the sluice, the alternate rows are fitted 
so as to break joints. 

Rock Riffles. —In many localities stones instead of 
blocks are used for riffles, and where heavy cement is 
washed the former are considered preferable on account 
of their cheapness. At Smartsville they have been found 
to serve fully as well as blocks, and are claimed to be 
cheaper. It must be stated, however, that they are more 
costly to handle, as longer time is required to clean up 
and repave the sluices. 

The stone riffles as quarried are of irregular size and 
shape, and are set in the sluice with a slight tilt down¬ 
stream. The hard rock used at the Manzanita Mine, 
Sweetland, Nevada County, costs about $10 per box (14 
feet long and 5 feet wide). 

Blocks anil Rocks. —A system of riffles consisting 
of a row of blocks alternating with an equal section of 
rocks has been found to work successfully. This arrange¬ 
ment of the sluices reduces materially the wear and tear 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


22J 


of the blocks, and has given excellent results. The block- 
and-rock riffles are not desirable for those sluices which 
have to be frequently cleaned up. 

Longitudinal Riffles. —In some districts longitu¬ 
dinal riffles, made of scantling placed lengthwise in the 
sluice, are preferred. At the Paragon Mine, Placer 
County, where the banks contain many large boulders, 
the riffles are made of 6-inch scantling \]/ 2 inches wide, 8 
feet long, separated by blocks i x / 2 inches wide ; and an 
iron bar, i y 2 inches wide and i inch deep and 8 feet long, 
is fastened on top of each scantling. The grade of the 
Paragon sluices is 18 inches per 12-foot box, and the 
width of the sluice is 44 inches. 

Red-Rock Riffles. —In the tunnel of the North 
Bloomfield Mine the lower 6,000 feet are run without a 
sluice, the bare bed-rock being used. Up to 1877, 7,000,- 
000 cubic yards were washed through the tunnel, and an 
examination at that period showed that the tunnel had 
been deepened about 16 inches, and, though the sides were 
worn smooth, troughs and holes were found hollowed out 
at different places. A partial examination of the tunnel 
made in the fall of 1882 showed the existence of many 
holes in the bottom, in some instances 6 feet deep, but the 
wear on the entire line may be said to average 3 feet, 
about 22,000,000 cubic yards of gravel having passed 
through it. 

On long sluice lines it is common to use several kinds 
of riffles. 

Branch Sluices.— Where the topography of the 
country compels the building of branch sluices, or 
a light dump requires the frequent change of the tail¬ 
ings discharge, great care must be taken in construct¬ 
ing the connections with the main sluice; otherwise, in 
“turning into” and “turning out” from a sluice, the 
gravel forms a bar either above or below the junction. 

Where heavy grades can be obtained no difficulty 
is encountered ; but where the inclination is slight, good 


228 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


judgment must be exercised in fixing the grades and 
curves, in order to make the sluices run uniformly and 
draw the material. 



Turn-in Sluice. —The diagram shows a “turn-in" 
sluice adopted, after many experiments, at the Delaney 
Claim, Patricksville. It was set with what is perhaps the 
sharpest curve that can be given, for successful work, to 
a sluice 4 feet wide and 32 inches deep, on a 3^-inch 
grade to 16 feet. 

The amount of water used was from 1,000 to 1,400 


















TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 22p 

twenty-four-hour inches. The grade was light, and dump 
for the tailings could be obtained only by means of direct 
connection made with the Patricksville main sluice line. 

With any decrease of the radius the sluice would not 
run uniformly, but would deposit tailings. The smallest 
radius of the curve having been ascertained by experi¬ 
ment, the next question that presented itself was. Would 
the main sluice carry the tailings discharged into it ? As 
the main sluice was straight, and the general fall of the 
ground slight, an attempt was made to economize grade 
and run this sluice, with its original grade of 3 inches to 
16 feet, below the junction, but the experiment was un¬ 
successful. The main sluice was then taken up, and a 
1 ^2-inch drop was given from the turn-in sluice at the 
junction, and the first two boxes from this point were set 
on a grade of 4 inches to 16 feet, while the remaining 
boxes had a 3^-inch grade to 16 feet. This improved 
matters, but material still accumulated in the main sluice 
at the junction and in the one box below. The turn-in 
sluice was then given a drop of 4 inches at the junction, 
and the discharge opening was increased from 11 to 14 
feet ; the sluices then ran uniformly. 

The outer curve of the sluice .was set a half-inch 
higher than the inner side. The boxes forming the curve 
were made in lengths of 8 feet each, and a grade of 2 
inches given to each length. The head of the sluice was 
straight, as well as the lower end below the junction. 

Turn-out Sluice. —The ‘'turn-out” sluice is gene¬ 
rally used when the dump-room is very limited. It is 
more difficult to operate on a light grade than a “ turn- 
in ” sluice. 

At the La Grange Company’s mines the grades varied 
from 2inches to 4 inches per 16 feet, and the dump- 
room was very limited, necessitating many turn-out 
sluices and frequent sharp curves. As the dumps filled 
up the sluices were extended, and every available space 
was utilized which could be reached with a branch sluice. 



Fig, 66. Turn-out Sluice Box. 


230 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


|| 

i 


o 

n 

_i 

co 

r 

< 

2 


The opening- at the points of divergence was origi¬ 
nally made 14 feet wide, and a drop 
of 1 inches given from the main 
sluice to the turn-out sluice, which 
latter was set on a “ swing ” of 4 
inches to 16 feet. 

The sluices thus constructed 
were found to run satisfactorily; 
but on increasing the swing (as 
became necessary) to 5 inches the 
boxes on either side of the junc¬ 
tion choked, only partially dis¬ 
charging the material, which diffi¬ 
culty could not be obviated by in¬ 
creasing the grade. On increasing 
the width of the discharge opening 
from the main sluice, which was 
gradually widened from 14 feet up 
to 24 feet, the sluices ran uninter¬ 
ruptedly and no further difficulty 
was experienced. 

The first box bottom was cut 
in the form shown in Fig. 66— 
| that is, from a point to full width ; 
the succeeding half-box, of 8 feet, 
was high on the outside, set with 
a slight increase in grade, and 
given a 4-inch swing. All the 
other boxes were set with a swing 
of 8 inches to the box, and on 
the grade of the main sluice for 
a total distance of 200 feet, after 
which it was found necessary to 
straighten the sluice for some dis¬ 
tance to give the water opportunity 
to regain its velocity. These ex¬ 
periments showed that in a 200-foot swing on a 2 per cent. 

















o 


Figs. 67, 68 and 69. North Bloomfield Undercurrent. 


END ELEVATION. 

















































































































































































































































. 






































































. 




























. 



















TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


231 


grade this was the greatest possible curve that could be 
successfully given to a 4-foot sluice. The curve, how¬ 
ever, could be increased in proportion to the grade. 

At the turn-in and turn-out it is necessary to place a 
board diagonally across the main sluice. This concen¬ 
trates the discharge and prevents the forming of bars. 

Undercurrents. —In order to relieve the sluices of 
the finer material, and thereby aid in saving the gold, un¬ 
dercurrents are introduced into the sluice line. These 
may be described as broad sluices set on a heavy grade 
at the side of and below the main sluice. 

Where a drop off can be made in the main line, par¬ 
allel steel or iron bars, 1 by 4 inches, with intervals of 1 
inch between them, and 10 to 20 in number, according to 
the size of the undercurrent, are placed edgewise across 
the sluice. A set of such bars is called a “grizzly.” It is 
set 1 inch below the sluice pavement, which is raised as it 
wears down. If too low, the grizzly clogs with gravel. 

The coarse material passes over the grizzly, and, if the 
topography permits, is dropped and picked up again in 
sluices at a lower level. 

The finer gravel drops through the bars into a 
box about 20 inches deep, lined with blocks and set at 
right angles to the main line. This box carries the ma¬ 
terial to the chute at the upper end of the undercurrent. 

This chute is lined with cobbles and provided with 
“ dividers ” of wood to evenly distribute the material 
over the surface of the undercurrent. It has a 2 or 3 per 
cent, grade and gradually narrows towards the lower end. 

The undercurrent proper is a shallow wooden box, 20 
to 50 feet wide, 40 to 50 feet long, with sides about 16 
inches high. It should have, if possible, 8 to 10 times the 
width of the main sluice. The bottom is made of i^-inch 
plank tongued and grooved, and set on a grade of 8 to 10 
per cent., according to the smoothness of the riffles em¬ 
ployed. It is paved with cobbles, wooden rails shod with 
strap iron, or small wooden blocks. W ith the smooth 


232 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


rails a grade of 12 inches in 12 feet is sufficient; but with 
blocks the grade should be increased to 14 inches in 12 
feet, and with cobbles to 16 inches in 12 feet. 

The gravel escaping from the undercurrent is led back 
to the main sluice. 

The chief cost of maintenance is occasioned, not by the 
undercurrent itself, but by the repairs on the main sluice 
and grizzly, caused by the introduction of the latter into 
the sluice line. The running expense of a wide under¬ 
current is no more than that of a narrow one, excepting 
in the slight matter of pavement and cleaning up. 

At French Corral, with a tail sluice 5 feet wide, the 
yield of the first undercurrent, which was 20 feet wide, 
was 20 per cent, of the yield of all the undercurrents. An 
addition of 10 feet to the width increased its yield to 27 
per cent, of the total, and the grizzly in the main sluice 
was not changed. 


TABLE XXV. 

Lengths and Grades of the principal Tunnels in the Mining 
District of Smartsville , Yuba County , California. 


Name of Tunnel. 

Locality. 

Length of 
Tunnel. 

Average Grade of Tunnel. 

Inches per Sluice Box. 

Feet 
per 100. 

Babb . 

Timbuctoo. 

Feet. 

I, 200 

51^ in. to 12 ft. 

6 “ to 12 “ 

3.80 

4 16 

Partol 11 s. 

< i 

1,700 

1,600 

1,100 

Rose’s Bar. 

a 

6 “ to 12 “ 

4.16 
4-50 

Blue Gravel.... 

Sucker Flat. 

“ to 12 “ 

Pittsburg. 

Blue Point ... . 

it i i 

< i H 

QOO 

2.250 

6 “ to 12 “ 

6 “ to 12 “ 

4 16 

4.16 

Enterprise. 

Deer Creek . 

ii it 

Mooney’s Flat. .. 

1,200 

2,200 

6 “ to 12 “ 

5 “ to 12 “ 

4.16 

3-40 



























TUNNELS AND SLUICES 


233 


£ r4 ‘ P M 

.. 3 " ui 

S 3S. 0 

3.i •*. i^..^T O 


o.HHHs-< ft 2 
p t£ ar =£ v, w — s 

^ l/i D>* tn"E r '“ 

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TABLE XXVII. 

Cost of Construction of the French Corral Tunnel and Sluices. 


















































































































234 


TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


TABLE XXVI. 


Lengths, Grades , and Cost of important Tunnels in Nevada County.* 


— 

Name of Mine or 

Locality. 

V4-1 

O _ _• 

V 

^ G 
+■» G 

Average Grade. 


Cost. 

Tunnel. 

c 3 

Per Sluice Box. 

Per 

Cent. 

Boston .. . 

Woolsey’s Flat .... 

Feet. 

1,600 

10 x / 2 in. to 12 ft. 

7% 

• • 

$40,000 

528,000++ 

North Bloomfield . 

Humbug Canon.... 

9 , 200 + 

6*4 “ to 12 “ 

\Vz 

Farrell. 

Columbia Hill. 

2,200 

2,ooot 

5,ooot 

6 “ to 14 “ 

12 “ to 14 “ 

ioj4 “ to 14 “ 

3 ^ 

7 , 
6% 

English. 

American. 

Badger Hill. 

Below San Juan.... 

160,000+ 

Manzanita. 

Sweetland Creek... 

Sweetland. 

4 t 

3 , 50 °+ 

2,200 

4,400+ 

7 “ to 14 “ 

8 “ to 14 “ 

4% 

4 yi 

92,000+ 

90,000 

Bed-rock. 

Below Sweetland... 

9 “ to 14 “ 


75,000+ 

French Corral. ... 

French Corral. 

5,048+ 

8 “ to 14 “ 

4 ^ 

190,000+ 


* Originally extracted from J. D. Hague’s Report on the Eureka Lake and Yuba Canal Co. 
t All figures marked thus are corrections of the original. % With eight auxiliary shafts. 


TABLE XXVIII. 

Cost of Construction of Tunnel and Sluices at Manzanita Mine. 


Expenses. 


Labor, etc.: 

Sup’t and Accoun- ) 

tant.f 

Office expenses. 

Travel of Sup’t. 

Hauling. 

Miners and laborers.. 

Supplies and Materials: 

Explosives. 

Lumber. 

Lights. 

Tools and miscel- j 
laneous supplies, f 

Steel. 

Charcoal. 

Iron. . 

Nails. 

Blocks for sluice... 

Machinery : 

Pipes, shafting, etc.. 
Water-power. 

Legal Expenses: 

Counsel fees, etc.... 
Taxes: 

Taxes before com- \_ 
pletion.j 


Manzanita Tun¬ 
nel. 


$1,400 20 

70 24 
73 69 

119 11 

* 9,459 2 4 

-$21,122 48 


i ,997 22 
588 22 
345 55 
211 27 

239 60 
603 65 
50 00 


203 79 
65 00 


22 73 
150 00 


4,035 5 i 


268 79 


172 73 


$25,399 51 


Manzanita Shaft. 


$>1,400 20 

70 24 
73 68 
167 66 
11,777 99 


$13,489 77 


809 55 

“4 35 
92 25 

407 92 

79 61 
230 02 


r ,733 70 


163 79 
772 43 

1,267 61 
150 00 


* 


936 22 


1,417 61 


> 17,577 30 


Manzanita Tail 
Sluice. 


Total. 


!j>4 00 
8,983 67 


276 35 
6,134 67 


1,987 67 


70 OO 

IO OO 
20 OO 

265 31 
614 51 
1,098 43 


8,489 27 


$* 7,476 94^60,653 75 


* 10,905 ten-hour inches. 

Note. —The item $25,599 5 1 shows the cost of driving the Manzanita Tunnel from a point 





















































































TUNNELS AND SLUICES. 


235 


756 feet from its mouth to a point of junction with the heading from the shaft, a distance of 
851 feet; cost $30 08 per linear foot. The amount $17,557 3° is the cost of sinking the shaft 
123 feet and driving a heading from it 93 feet to connect with the lower (tunnel) heading; 
cost $81 38 per linear foot. The amount for tunnel and shaft ($43,176 81) is the cost of the 
entire tunnel to the Milton Company. Previous, however, to the formation of this company 
the tunnel had been driven in 756 feet at a cost of about $25 per foot, or, say, $19,000; adding 
this $19,000 to the $43,176 81 expended by the Milton Company gives $62,176 81 as the total 
cost of tunnel and shaft, or nearly $35 per linear foot. The third item of $17,476 94 repre¬ 
sents the cost of construction of a tail sluice, 4,774 feet long, from the mouth of the tunnel to 
the Yuba River, 7 large undercurrents of the most approved pattern, and the labor of putting 
a flume in the tunnel 1,700 feet long. The three accounts summing $60,653 75-f~'$ I 9 > 000 
(amount expended on tunnel before organization of the company), say $80,000, represents 
the entire cost of tunnel and sluices ready for washing. Size of tunnel, 8' X 8'. 


CHAPTER XV. 


TAILINGS AND DUMP. 

Tailing’S. —The refuse material thrown aside in 
quartz, drift, hydraulic, or other mines, after the extrac¬ 
tion of the precious metal, is called “ tailings.” The tail¬ 
ings from hydraulic mines are called “ debris ” also. 

The number of cubic yards of debris from the various 
gravel mines discharged in 1880-1 into the streams and 
valleys of California, between Chico Creek on the north 
and the Merced River on the south, has been estimated at 
about 46,000,000. To this amount, according to Professor 
Price, there should be added 1,000,000 cubic yards from 
the tailings from the working of 1,500,000 tons of quartz 
by 12,546 stamps in mills. 

Composition of Tailings. —The tailings from mills 
consist of pulverized quartz particles. The refuse from 
gravel-washing is of all forms and dimensions, and is com¬ 
posed of the most diversified materials. The light particles 
of soil, loam, and sand are easily carried forward by run¬ 
ning water, while the rocks and boulders, though readily 
transported through sluices, lodge and distribute them¬ 
selves, when discharged therefrom, in the creeks and 
streams in accordance with their size, shape, and specific 
gravity, and for their further removal the agencies of time 
and flood are necessary. 

Cemented material and pipe-clay are more or less 
disintegrated and ground down in the process of sluic¬ 
ing. When subjected to the action of running water 
further pulverization and disintegration ensue, the ac¬ 
tual amount of which is unknown. 

Wear in Running Water.— The wearing down of 

236 


TAILINGS AND DUMP. 


237 


solid cobbles and boulders by running water after lodg¬ 
ment in the beds of large streams, at a distance from the 
mine, is not great. When these materials are carried 
further forward by floods or torrents they move along 
the bottom until they find permanent lodgment, conse¬ 
quent upon a decrease in the grade of the bed of the 
stream or from some other cause. In water the weight 
of rocks is materially lessened, and the friction which 
would be due to their weight is correspondingly de¬ 
creased. 

The constant collision and rubbing of the harder rocks 
against each other smooths and polishes them, somewhat 
changes their form and lessens their surface, and, to a 
certain extent, reduces them to fine powder but not to 
sand. Experiments made to ascertain the wear due to 
erosion of solid materials transported by rivers or streams 
tend to establish the fact that no perceptible deposit can 
be attributed to such cause, as the sediment from such 
wear is found to be a very fine powder, which immedi¬ 
ately passes off in suspension. 

The distribution of gravels along the course of any 
stream will be found to be in accordance with their size, 
form and specific gravity, and distance from the source. 
Thus the material composing the bed of a stream, which 
may at its source consist entirely of large boulders and 
cobbles, will become finer and finer through the succes¬ 
sive stages of gravel, pebbles, and sand, until it is finally 
discharged as muddy water into the ocean. 

Effects of Hydraulic Debris.— -The working of 
hydraulic mines in California has here and there given 
rise to disputes with farmers. These disputes have, un¬ 
fortunately, been carried into the domain of local politics, 
and thereby not only brought into undue prominence, but 
also exaggerated, and an equitable settlement prevented. 
Meantime manipulators have taken advantage of the situ¬ 
ation to the detriment of both the farming and the mining 
interests. 


TAILINGS AND DUMP. 


2^8 


The navigable waters affected by the mines are the 
bays of Suisun and San Pablo and the Sacramento, San 
Joaquin, and Feather rivers. The smaller and non-navi- 
gable streams which receive more or less of the sands are 
(besides the Trinity and Klamath rivers, where so little 
washing is done that they need not be considered): the 
American (tributary of the Sacramento) in the north ; 
and the Merced, the Tuolumne, the Stanislaus, the Cala¬ 
veras, the Mokelumne, and the Cosumnes (tributaries of 
the San Joaquin) in the south. The quantity of debris 
which has been washed into these streams is unknown, and 
data based on reconstructed topography in the mining 
regions are, from the nature of the case, simply guesses. 
The only available method of estimating with any ap¬ 
proach to accuracy the amounts of material mined seems 
to be that of taking the water used and averaging the 
duties of the inch, as surveys of the washings are kept 
up only in exceptional cases. 

The inch differs as much as 20 per cent., the nature of 
the ground mined continually changes, and the character 
of the sluices varies not only in every district but in almost 
every claim. These estimates, therefore, must be consid¬ 
ered as the mean of many conjectures. It can be safely 
stated that only in a few instances do any of the ditches 
discharge the quantity of water which they are rated 
to deliver according to official statements or in the as¬ 
sessors’ returns, from which sources chiefly the cubic 
yards mined have been estimated. 

The following tables, XXIX. and XXX., are based on 
this method. Table XXIX. is from William Hammond 
Hall, State Engineer, Report of 1880, part iii. p. 24. 
Table XXX. is from Lieutenant-Colonel G. FI. Mendell’s 
Report upon Mining Debris in California Rivers, 1882^ 
P-15: 


TAILINGS AND DUMP. 


239 


TABLE XXIX. 

Season 1878-79. 


Cubic Yards. 

Table Mountain Creek. 3,556,000 

Butte Creek. 

Feather River.12,687,500 

Yuba River.22,326,500 

Bear River. 5,550,000 

Dry Creek, No. 2. 6So,ooo 

American River. 8,604,000 


TABLE XXX. 

Season 1879-80. 
Cubic Yards. 

2 , 919.375 

84,000 

4,407,770 

I9, io 3,598 

3,35L246 

132,687 

8,615,250 


Total 


53,404,000* 


38,613,926! 


In the region south of the American River Mendell’s 
Report shows the discharge of tailings to be 7,414,465 
cubic yards. 

The differences in the above tabulated estimates, which 
were undoubtedly prepared with care, show how difficult 
it is to arrive at exact data. In view of the fact that the 
details on which the calculations are made are not given, 
it is impossible to criticise with fairness. It would ap¬ 
pear that the duty of the inch is rather too large.;}: 

By far the greater part of the material washed remains 
comparatively near the ends of the sluices in the canons 
until removed by heavy freshets. “ In the Polar Star and 
Southern Cross mines, at Dutch Flat, I have estimated 
that nearly 50 per cent, of the material mined is of a cha¬ 
racter which need never be carried a mile below the 
dumps ; it is of heavy rock and cobble-stones, and prob¬ 
ably not over 45 per cent, of the whole need ever be¬ 
come sandy and sedimentary in character if reservoired 
before being transported very far ; so that all but about 
15 per cent, could be held readily behind dams and other 
obstructions in the canons.” § 

* The State Engineer’s estimate of quantities washed is based upon the returns of the 
amount of water used, made by mining superintendents or secretaries, on blank forms fur¬ 
nished from the State Engineer’s office. 

+ Colonel Mendell’s estimate is based upon returns of water used in mining, made by 
the county assessors to the State Engineer, as provided by law. 

% The average duty of the inch for the region draining into the Sacramento Valley is (ac¬ 
cording to the tables) 3.6 cubic yards, and for the region south of the American River 2.2 
cubic yards. The latter is certainly, and the former probably, too great. 

§ Report of the State Engineer, 1880, p. 23. 













240 


TAILINGS AND DUMP. 


The coarse detritus which gets into the streams and 
is subjected to the action of floods is moved along when 
the grades are over 40 feet to the mile, and is deposited 
mostly when the grade is lessened to between 30 and 20 
feet. “ The sands predominate greatly ” when the grade 
is reduced to 10 feet and less.* 

The finest and lightest material is held in suspension 
until the velocity of the water carrying it is greatly re¬ 
duced. The amount of material suspended in the Cali¬ 
fornia rivers has been estimated from tests made of these 
waters, but these tests have not been continued for a 
sufficient length of time to afford any reliable results. 

The deposition of this material on lands overflowed 
during high water was one of the original causes of the 
disputes mentioned above. 

Up to the year 1880, the total area in the Sacramento 
Basin thus affected is estimated by the State Engineer 
at 43,546 acres, a large portion of which was of little 
value and had always been subject to overflow. 

The catchment area on the east side of the Sacra¬ 
mento Valley is very large, and the descent from the 
high sierra to the valley is very abrupt and precipitous. 
During the stormy seasons immense quantities of water, 
caused by rainfall and melting snows, are rapidly dis¬ 
charged into the lowlands, where the river channels, 
having but small areas f and light grades, are unable to 
carry them off, and floods invariably follow. 

The reservoirs which have been constructed by the 
hydraulic mining companies in the mountains partially 
mitigate the evils arising from this source. 

THE DUMP. 

It is impossible to lay too much stress on the import¬ 
ance of the dump, as without it hydraulic mining could 
not be carried on. Where thousands of cubic yards of 


* Report of Lieutenant-Colonel Mendell, pp. 33 and 34. 
t See vol. ii. p. 7 Trans. Tech. Soc. of the Pacific Coast. 


TAILINGS AND DUMP. 


24I 


alluvions are being washed daily from their position, 
places must be provided at lower elevations where the 
gravel can be deposited. A much larger superficial area 
is usually required for this than was primarily occupied 
by the material removed, as the dumps seldom have the 
depths of the original deposits. 

Working 011 different Bed-rock Levels with 
same Dump. — It sometimes happens in adjacent claims 
with small dump-room that the bed-rock of one is lower 
than the other. Where this occurs the claim with the 
highest bed-rock should be the last run off. 

An illustration of this was afforded at Patricksville, in 
Stanislaus County, where three claims were worked, one 
tailing over the other. During the years 1876 and 1877 
the lowest claim, called the “Chesnau,” was closed each 
fall, the dump giving out, while the upper ones continued 
work. With the return of spring freshets the canon was 
cleared of the debris, and washing was regularly resumed 
in the Chesnau, continuing as long as the dump lasted. 
The highest claim was closed while the Chesnau was 
working, to avoid the too rapid filling-up of the creek. 
If both upper claims had been worked at the same time 
the Chesnau would soon have been closed. 

Tailing into Streams. —The want of dump is reme¬ 
died only in exceptional cases by discharging into a cur¬ 
rent or mountain torrent. This occurs where the gold 
placers are on the borders of large, rapid, and well con¬ 
fined streams ; but in the mountains, where the gold-bear¬ 
ing deposits are found, the rivers are narrow and shallow, 
only running water in quantity during the winter and 
early spring. 

Experience at La Grange, on the Tuolumne.— 

Some of the annoyances and difficulties arising from tail¬ 
ing into a stream can be seen on the Tuolumne River be¬ 
low La Grange. The river, a large mountain stream 
which runs over a hard slate bottom, has for 17 miles 
above the town a fall approximating 18 feet to the mile, 


242 


TAILINGS AND DUMP. 


and is well confined by abrupt banks. Opposite the old 
French Hill dump the river is 500 feet wide, and at La 
Grange, from which place to its mouth the grade is only 
a few feet to the mile, its width is 525 feet. Three hun¬ 
dred yards below the town, opposite the Light claim, it 
widens to 750 feet. Down the stream from this point the 
hills recede for the succeeding three or four miles, but 
subsequently form prominent banks to the river. During 
high water, opposite the Light claim, at its greatest 
width, its average depth was 10 feet, the centre of the 
channel being 14 feet deep. When the La Grange Com¬ 
pany commenced work, in 1872, the bottom of the chan¬ 
nel was a few feet deeper. 

The Light claim was worked in 1873, and up to June 
23, 1874, had discharged 720,086 cubic yards of gravel 
into the stream. During the same period 975,064 cubic 
yards were dumped into the river from the Kelly and 
French Hill properties. The results at the expiration of 
21 months were, that the channel opposite the Light 
claim was filled up, the sluices were run out of grade, 
the river bed was shoaled on all sides, the water of a 
formerly rapid stream straggled over the accumulated 
debris with a barely perceptible motion, and it is hardly 
necessary to add that the claim was closed. 

The spring freshets of 1875-76 were unusually severe, 
clearing the river at the claim for its entire width and 
leaving a dump of over 11 feet along its west bank. In 
the spring work was resumed, and 48,280 cubic yards 
were moved in the Light claim and 212,346 cubic yards 
from French Hill, which was a quarter of a mile up¬ 
stream. By September the river was filled up nearly its 
entire width to the height of the sluices, and the water 
was confined to a strip 30 feet wide, discharging 1 foot 
deep over a bar. 

Exceptional Cases. —Where a small amount of tail¬ 
ings is discharged into narrow and steep canons, winter 
rains and spring freshets suffice to clean them out; but 


TAILINGS AND DUMP. 


where the quantity is large, in spite of the water the ra¬ 
vines hll up gradually, and hydraulic mining in these 
localities ultimately ceases. It occasionally happens that 
the want of dump-room is obviated by a tunnel, by means 
of which the tailings are conveyed into large and pre¬ 
cipitous ravines, there to await the action of time and 
water for their further removal. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


WASHING, OR HYDRAULICKING. 

Charging the Sluices. —The tunnel and sluices hav¬ 
ing been completed, water is turned into the pipes and 
washing commences. The sluices are run half a day in 
order to pack them. The water is then shut off and a 
charge of quicksilver is put into the upper 200 or 300 
feet of sluices, a small quantity being distributed along the 
entire line except the last 400 feet. In a 6-foot sluice the 
first charge will be about 3 flasks. The undercurrents are 
charged at the same time and a little quicksilver put into 
the tail sluice. Quicksilver is added daily during the run, 
in gradually lessening quantities, the object being to keep 
the mercury uncovered and clean at the top of the riffles ; 
and therefore the charge is regulated by the amount ex¬ 
posed to view. At the North Bloomfield Mine, where the 
main sluice is cleaned up nearly every 12 days, the amount 
of quicksilver used in a run varies from 14 to 18 flasks. A 
24-foot undercurrent will require a charge of from 80 to 88 
pounds of quicksilver. 

In charging the riffles all splashing of the quicksilver 
should be avoided. When it is sprinkled into the sluice 
(a practice to be condemned) it divides itself into minute 
particles, the bulk of which is easily carried off by the 
swift stream, while the lighter portions will float even in 
the clear water. The buoyancy of these small particles 
is very considerable. 

Top water from mining sluices often yields minute 
globules of quicksilver, and float quicksilver containing 
gold particles (microscopic) has been taken from the sur¬ 
face of the water twenty miles from where the amalgam 

244 


WASHING, OX HYDRAULlCKING. 245 

entered the stream. In one case floating amalgam was 

O O 

observed on the North Fork of the Yuba River four miles 
below where the tailings were dumped. A flume (con¬ 
veying water to a pump) was set above the bottom of the 
stream, drawing direct without any dam. An examina¬ 
tion of the flume subsequent to its removal revealed the 
presence of about one ounce of gold amalgam, collected 
at the junction of the boxes. 

Commencing* Work. —The first work is started 
near the head of the sluice and the mine opened from 
that point. As the banks are washed away the bed-rock 
cuts are driven towards the face of the work and the 
sluices are advanced. (For blasting see Chapter XII.) 

Caving Banks. —In order to cave a bank it is cus¬ 
tomary to use two pipes which throw streams from op¬ 
posite sides at an obtuse angle with one another, forming 
a cross-fire, against the lower part of the bank. This 
cross-fire was supposed to be particularly efficient, but 
in many cases where large quantities of water and great 
pressures (2,500 to 3,000 inches with heads of 350 to 
450 feet) are employed better results have been claimed 
from utilizing water in a single stream than from its sub¬ 
division through two (or more) pipes. Any surplus water 
may be allowed to run over the banks, but such surplus 
should be avoided as far as possible and all the water 
utilized through the nozzles. 

When washing with two pipes, and the dirt caves 
readily, one pipe should be employed to do the cutting 
while with the other the falling gravel is washed into the 
ground sluices. 

The face of the bank should be kept square. Advan¬ 
tage should be taken of such corners as are left, and, under 
all circumstances, avoid working into what is called a 
“ horseshoe ” form. When a cut is rapidly pushed ahead 
and the work is not squared, the men at the pipes become 
encircled by high banks, washing can no longer be ad¬ 
vantageously prosecuted, and the lives of the miners arc 


246 


WASHING, OK HYDRAULICKING. 


imperiled. The majority of accidents arising from caves 
have been caused by this style of work. 

High Banks. —Where the banks exceed 150 feet in 
height it is advisable to wash the deposit in two benches. 
At Malakoff and Smartsville single benches have been used 
to the limit of 250 feet, and above this double benches. 

When the man at the pipe sees that the bank is about 
to cave the water should be immediately turned away 
from the falling masses ; if the cave falls upon the water 
in the ground cut, a rush of debris ensues, and in many 
instances the men at the pipe have to run for their lives. 
Such occurrences, arising either from carelessness or ac¬ 
cident, cause a loss of time and frequently entail damage 
to the pipe and machines. Caves, when practicable, are 
generally made towards evening, the night shift running 
them off. 

Light. —Locomotive reflectors or fires of pitch-wood 
are used to illuminate the banks during the night. In 
some large claims electric lights have been substituted. 
No doubt the latter would be more generally used were 
it not for the cost attendant on their introduction. 

Electric Light. —The electric-light machine used in 
illuminating- the North Bloomfield mine is of the Brush 
pattern and nominally of 12,000 candle-power. To run it 
requires four horse-power, supplied through a hurdy- 
gurdy wheel. The light is used in two lamps. 

The machine, lamps, wire, and connections cost two 
thousand dollars set up. It has been in almost constant, 
use for two and a half years, running from eight to twelve 
hours each night. 

Its running cost per night is: 


Six carbons, % inch b) r 12 inches, 

• 

. $0 50 

Brushes and segments, .... 

• 

. 0 12 

Oil, say,.. 

• 

0 03 

Attendance, half one man’s time, 

• 

. 1 50 

Power, 10 inches water, at 2.27 cts., say, 

• 

0 23 

Total cost per night, .... 

• 

$2 38 



WASHING, OR HYDRAULICKING. 


24; 


The cost of the pitch-wood bonfires previously used 
was eight dollars per night, and these gave an illumina¬ 
tion verv inferior to that of the electric light. 

The lamps are placed in the open, where they are 
subjected to the severest winter storms without injuri¬ 
ous effect other than the increased consumption of car¬ 
bons. 

Continuous Work. —The washing should be con¬ 
tinuous and no water be allowed to run to waste. It is 
therefore requisite to have several faces or openings, so 
that the water can be used from time to time on them 
whilst the cuts are being advanced and the sluices length¬ 
ened. These cuts, or “ ground sluices,” as they are called, 
are trenches made in the bed-rock towards the face of 
the bank washed, for the purpose of collecting the water 
and material and conveying them to the sluices. Some¬ 
times these cuts are very deep, say from 60 to 70 feet, and 
occasionally the expense of making them forms a large 
item. 

When a claim is running the sluices are always guard¬ 
ed. As a protection against theft, where claims are worked 
intermittently, the sluices are run full of gravel before 
turning off the water. 

Cleaning' up. —The length of “ runs ” is dependent 
upon many circumstances, but chiefly upon the wear of the 
pavement. Some claims are cleaned up every twenty days, 
others are run two or three months, whilst a few, where 
the water season is short, are cleaned up only every season. 
All pavements should be cleaned up as soon as they begin 
to wear in grooves. Where a large quantity of water is 
used, and a relatively large amount of ground washed, it 
is considered advisable to clean up the first 1,000 or 1,800 
feet of sluices (which are paved with blocks) every two 
weeks. With a gang of miners this work is done ex¬ 
peditiously, not occupying over one half-day. The tail 
sluices are cleaned up only once a year. The undercur¬ 
rents should be cleaned up whenever quicksilver is found 


24S 


WASHING, OR HYDRAULICKING. 


spread over their lower riffles, with tendency to discharge 
over their ends. 

When it is decided to “ clean up,” the bed rock and 
cuts are piped clean. No material is turned into the 
sluices, clear water alone being run until the sluices are 
free of dirt. 

When thus prepared only a small head of water, such 
as men can conveniently work in, is turned through the 
sluice, and the blocks are taken out by means of crow¬ 
bars, washed to free them from amalgam, and laid at the 
side of the sluice. This is done in sections approximating 
100 feet. Between each section one row of blocks is left 
in the sluice. These rows serve as riffles to prevent the 
gold and quicksilver from passing down the sluice. After 
the first section of blocks is taken up men follow the 
gravel and dirt as these are slowly washed down the 
sluices, and pick up the quicksilver and amalgam with 
iron scoops, with which they are put into sheet-iron 
buckets. 

As each riffle is reached the amalgam and quicksilver 
are collected, the block riffles removed, and the residue is 
washed down to the next riffle, and so on down the en¬ 
tire line of sluice. When this operation is completed the 
water is turned off and the workmen attend to the nail- 
holes and cracks in the sluices, “creviceing” with silver 
spoons to obtain the amalgam contained in them. After 
this the side-lagging is overhauled and the blocks are re¬ 
placed. Where the sluices are of great length the lower 
portions are usually lined with heavy rock, which can be 
used for longer periods without cleaning up. 

It is customary in mines which have very long sluices, 
and which are run at night, to clean up during the day as 
long a section as can be cleaned and put in order for fur¬ 
ther work, and to resume washing at night, until the whole 
line is cleaned up. At the end of the water season the en¬ 
tire works are cleaned up and put in order for the next 
season’s run. 


WASHING, OR HYDRAULICKING. 


249 


Treating the Amalgam. —The quicksilver and 
amalgam obtained is well stirred in buckets, and the 
coarse sand, nails, and other foreign substances which 
float on the surface are skimmed off. This residue (which 
holds considerable amalgam) is concentrated by washing 
in pans or rockers, and the concentrations ground in iron 
mortars and treated with more quicksilver. Any base 
material which floats on the surface of the bath is melted 
by itself to a base bullion. The remainder is added to the 
fine amalgam. The amalgam is strained from the quick¬ 
silver through drilling, and the dr)' amalgam is retorted 
in iron retorts. 

Retorting. —Where the amount of amalgam obtained 
is small the hand retort is used, but at large gravel-mines 
the cast-iron retorts are made stationary, similar to those 
used at gold and silver quartz mills, only that they are 
smaller. Where large quantities of amalgam are retort¬ 
ed and the furnaces when fired are left unattended, as is 
frequently the case, the retort, which is set immediately 
above the fire, becomes overheated. The weight of the 
metal which it contains then causes the retort to “belly,” 
which ruins it. To overcome this difficulty the retort 
should be set with supports and arranged with the fire to 
one side, that the heat may be evenly distributed over it. 
Retorts thus set are found to work well in practice. (See 
Figs. 70, 71.) 

Before the amalgam is put in the retort the interior is 
coated with a thin wash of clay, which prevents the amal¬ 
gam adhering to the iron. 

The amalgam should be carefully introduced and 
evenly spread. The iron pipe which connects the back 
end of the retort with the condenser must be clear of all 
obstructions, and under no circumstances should the 
amalgam be spread so that the pipe can possibly become 
choked, as in that case an explosion would probably ensue. 

To avoid any danger arising from this source, after 
the cover has been put on, luted with either clay or a 


70. -Fig- 71. 


250 WASHING, OR HYDRAULIC KING. 






Figs. 70, 71. The Retort. 



































































WASHING, OR HYDRAULIC KING. 25 I 

mixture of clay and wood-ashes, and securely clamped, 
the fire is lighted and the heat gradually raised, a dark- 
red heat being all that is necessary to thoroughly volatil¬ 
ize the quicksilver. Towards the end of the operation the 
heat is raised to a cherry-red color, at which it is kept 
until distillation ceases. The retort is allowed to gradu¬ 
ally cool, and when cold is opened. 

During the operation the condensing-coil at the back 
of the retort should be kept cool by a continuous supply 
of fresh water entering from the lower end of the box 
which contains it, whilst the discharge of warm water is 
effected above. 

The retorted bullion is cut or broken in pieces and 
melted in a well-annealed black-lead crucible, and the gold 
cast into bars. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. 

In cleaning up sluices the largest portion (approximat¬ 
ing 80 per cent.) of the gold caught is found in the first 
200 feet. The gross yield of the Gardner’s Point claim 
for the season of 1874 was $63,000 for 100 days’ run. Of 
this amount $54,000 were obtained in the first 150 feet, 
and $3,000 were taken from the undercurrents. The re¬ 
mainder was found lower down along the sluices. The 
first undercurrent was 790 feet distant from the head of 
the sluice, and yielded 50 per cent, of the total yield of the 
undercurrents. The second undercurrent was 78 feet dis¬ 
tant from the first, with a drop of 40 feet between them, 
and it contained 33 per cent, of the gross undercurrent 
yield. The third undercurrent was 91 feet distant from 
the second, with a drop of 50 feet between them. Its 
yield was nearly $500. 

It sometimes happens that a hundred or a hundred 
and fifty feet at the head of a sluice are covered with 
gravel during the greater part of a run. In such cases 
the gold is found farther down. In the North Bloomfield 
tunnel the upper 300 feet of the sluice are generally filled 
from one to five feet deep with gravel, and still this por¬ 
tion yields much more amalgam per linear foot than the 
succeeding 300 feet of sluice. The following data from 
the report of this company for the year ending October 
31, 1876, are worthy of note, as showing the position of 
the gold in the sluices at “ No. 8 ” claim, where some 
700,000 inches of water were run, washing 2,919,000 cubic 
yards of gravel: 


252 


THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. 


253 


Sump . 


0.80 per cent, of 

Flume (i.Soo ft.). . 

... 176,900 73 

92.00 “ 


Tunnel below flume..., 


3-75 “ 

< < 

Tail sluice (300 ft.). 


0.95 “ 

< i 

U ndercurrents. 

5,235 00 

2.50 “ 

ii 


$I 9 2 ,735 73 

100.00 “ 

t < 


gross yield. 

• < a 

a < 1 


<< << 

»i a 


Mr. P. Wright, assistant engineer for water-supply, 
Beechworth District, Australia, in giving his experience 
on the subject of the distribution of gold in sluices, says: 
“ Wilh a sluice 12 inches wide, on an incline of one foot 
to 48 feet, using 600 gallons per minute, I have found 95 
per cent, of the gold within three feet of where the gravel 
was filled into the sluice—where the gold was lying on 
a smooth board, and yet a powerful current failed to 
move it.” * 

Distribution in Tail Sluices. —The North Bloom¬ 
field tunnel (8,000 feet in length) has 1,800 feet of sluices, 
paved with blocks at its upper end ; but in the succeeding 
6,200 feet no sluices are used, the tailings being allowed 
to run on the bare bed-rock (a tough slate). 

From the rock-cut at the mouth of the tunnel a sluice 
paved with rocks receives the tailings. From here on 
they are carried through sluices and cuts and distributed 
over undercurrents which are set on different grades, 
paved, in some instances, with rocks and blocks, and oc¬ 
casionally arranged with longitudinal riffles covered with 
strap iron. The grizzlies used are made of wrought iron, 
1 by 4 inches in size, set on edge. The discharge from 
the several undercurrents is taken up by the main sluice 
and subsequently redischarged over the succeeding un¬ 
dercurrent until the lowest sluice and undercurrent final¬ 
ly discharge the tailings into the canon. From December 
1, 1876, to June 1, 1877, 354,000 24-hour miner’s inches of 
water (2,230 cubic feet each), conveying the tailings, passed 
through the main sluice and tunnel and were discharged 
through the tail or lower sluice and undercurrents. 


* “ The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria,” R. Brough Smythe, p. 133. 









254 


THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. 


The annexed sketch shows the general arrangement of 

o o 

the tail sluices and undercurrents, which latter were sub¬ 
divided into compartments, as indicated. 




36 ft. 


FiCx. 72. 


The distribution of the gold along the line of sluices 
and in the several undercurrents was as follows : 

Tail sluices from December 1, 1S76, to June 1, 1877, miner’s 


inches of water. 24 hours each, 350,000. 

150 feet at head, down to No. 1 Undercurrent, yield. $3,150 00 

150 feet, remainder of sluice, yield. 350 00 


Total... $3,500 00 

No. i Undercurrent—Size, 24 by 36 feet; grade, 13 
inches in 12 feet; chute, 2 feet wide at opening, contracted 
to 10 inches; iron-rail riffles. (The undercurrents are 
divided into four compartments, A, B, C, and D.) 


A 

yielded 

ioSL£ 

ounces amalgam. N 


B 

4 < 

83*4 

4 4 4 4 


C 

< 4 

46U 

< < l ( 

>■ 3 clean-ups 

D 

4 • 

3^4 

4 4 4 4 


Chute 

4 4 

46 M 

4 4 4 4 

J 




316 >4 

“ “ Value, $1,920. 


No. 2 Undercurrent—Size, 24 by 24 feet; grade, 12 
inches in 12 feet; chute, upper end 2 *<2 feet, lower end 
2 feet; iron-rail riffles. 


A jdelded 

4SJ4 

ounces amalgam. 

P 

36 M 

4 4 

4 4 

C 

20 : 4 

4 4 

4 4 

D 

23 M 

4 4 

4 4 

Chute “ 

14 

4 4 

4 4 


143M 

4 4 

4 4 




> 2 clean-ups. 


Value, $S74. 







































THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. 255 

No. 3 Undercurrent—Size, 24 by 36 feet; grade, 15 
inches in 12 feet ; chute, 2 l / 2 feet upper end, 2 feet lower 
end ; rock riffles. 



A yielded 

B * “ 

C 

D 

Chute “ 


< < 

i 4 


5oi.< ounces amalgam. 
35 H 

18U 

16 


< i 

i i 

< ( 

< ( 


«« 

«< 

t 4 

4 < 


► 2 clean-ups. 


I23;4 


Value, $SS3. 


No. 4 Undercurrent—Size, 20 by 36 feet; grade, 12 
inches in 12 feet; rock riffles. 


yi ; 3 4 ounces amalgam. Value, $430. 


No. 5 Undercurrent (constructed in March)—150,000 
miner’s inches of water; size, 24 by 24 feet; grade, 12 
inches in 12 feet; chute, 2 l / 2 feet upper end, contracted 
to 2 feet lower end; riffles 1 % by 4 inch lumber, cov¬ 
ered with strap iron; nails 1 inch apart. 


A 

B 

C 

D 


yielded 5 ounces amalgam. 1 

“ s 1 / ■ “ “ I 

2 )■ 1 clean-up. 

“ 5 “ “ 1 

“ 6 }{ 


Value, $150. 


No. 6 Undercurrent—Size, 24 bv 36 feet; grade, 17 
inches in 12 feet; rock riffles; chute, 2^ feet upper end, 
2 feet lower end ; 150,000 miner’s inches of water. 


Mouth 
T unnel 















































256 THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICEo. 


A 

yielded 

8 

ounces 

amalgam. 


B 

4 4 

5 

4 4 

4 4 

► I clean-up. 

C 

4 4 


4 4 

4 4 

D 

4 4 

3 

19M 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 

i 4 

Value, $115. 


The total yield of the undercurrents and tail sluices, 
for the period mentioned, was $7,872, while that of the 
claim was $145,000. 

The amalgam from the main sluice is worth from 
$7 50 to $8 50 per ounce Troy, whereas that of the under¬ 
currents varies from $6 to $6 20 per ounce Troy. 

The result of the undercurrents and tail-sluice clean¬ 
ups for the year 1876-7 was as follows: 


Yield. 


Cut A to B. 


• 334 

ounces 

amalgam 

Tail sluice B to C 


• i, 3 So}£ 

4 4 

4 4 

Undercurrent No. 


MM 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 4 4 

2. 

2So% 

4 4 

4 < 

4 4 4 4 

3 . 

253 % 

4 4 

44 

(4 44 

4 . 

I 43?4 

4 4 

44 

4 4 44 

^ t 6 months.. - 

69 

4 4 

4 4 

4 4 4 4 

6 f ( 

59/2 

4 4 

44 


Total in canon. 307 ° “ 

This amount (3,170 ounces) equals in value about 7 per 
cent, of the total yield of the mine for the fiscal j 7 ear, dur¬ 
ing which period 595,500 miner’s inches of water have 
been used, extracting $291,116 90 gold. 

Comparing these final results with those of the pre¬ 
vious year, 1875-6, the metal is found distributed through¬ 
out the sluices and undercurrents in the same relative pro¬ 
portions. 

This fact is noteworthy, since in 1875-6 the bulk of 
the material moved was “top gravel,” while in 1876-7 a 
much larger proportion of “ cement gravel ” was run 
through the sluices. 

In the heavy cement at French Corral and Manzanita 















THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. 257 

a high percentage of the gross yield of the mines is found 
in the undercurrents. 

Hydraulic mining in the “ cement claims ” is carried 
on under great difficulties. An exhibit of the workings 
of the sluices of a representative “cement claim” (French 
Corral) is here given, and the contrast thus afforded with 
the workings of sluices in the majority of cases is most 
striking and of especial interest. 

The washings from the French Corral mine, after pass¬ 
ing through the new tunnel, are successively distributed 
over nine undercurrents before they are finally discharged. 
1 he sizes and arrangements of these undercurrents are 
given in the accompanying table. 


TABLE XXXI. 

French Corral Mine Undercurrents , etc. 


Undercurrents. 

Secondaries. 

Main Sluice 
containing 
Grizzly. 

X 

U 









3 v 

> 

O 









<■5 3 £ 

j-t ® 

a "O 

O U-t 

u 0 
fa 

c 

V 

fa 

Width. 

Grade . 4 

Bottom lined with 

Length. 

Width. 

Grade. 

Length. 

Width. 


Feet. 

Feet. 

Per 

Cent. 


Feet. 

Feet. 

Per 

Cent. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

No. 1 

42 

20 

8 

Blocks 6 " wide, 4" deep.. 

•• 

•• 

■ ■ 

•• 

5 

“ 2 

42 

20 

8 

tt It 44 

21 

12 

7 

42 

6 





( Blocks for 14 ft. 




28 


“ 3 

42 

20 

8 

( Longitudinal rails, 28 ft.. 

• . 

• . 

. . 

6 

“ 4 

42 

42 

20 

8 

% blocks ; % rails. 




28 

6 

“ 5 

20 

8 

tt it 

. • 

• . 

. . 

42 

6 

“ 6 

42 

20 

8 

it tt 

• • 



28 

6 

“ 7 

42 

20 

8 

tt tt 

21 

12 

7 

42 

6 

“ 8 

42 

20 

8 

tt tt 

• • 



28 

6 

“ 9 

42 

20 

8 

tt tt 

. 

28 

12 

7 

28 

6 


From January 14 to October 3, 1877, there were 
163,263 miner’s inches of water discharged over these 
undercurrents, and the corresponding yield of the wash- 


* Grade 15 inches in 14 feet. 



































258 THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. 


ings was $201,284 36 gold, 17^ per cent, of said amount 
being found in the undercurrents, distributed in the fol¬ 
lowing proportions : 


TABLE XXXI A. 

Yield of the Undercurrents, etc., at the French Corral Mine. 


Amalgam Yield in lbs. Avoirdupois. 


</> • 
'fi V 

£.E 

™ <U 


o o 

j-o 

t.a 

Oh 


Undercurrents. 

Secondaries. 

Pickings 

from Chutes 

and Aprons. 

Nos. 

I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

I 

2 

3 

Lbs. 

g6 

67^ 

56% 

42 

31 

24V2 

-3X 

17 

12 X 

5X 


I 

9V2 


2 

V 

> 

'a 

c 

u 




I 7 • 5 


As a further illustration of the distribution of gold in 
the sluices of hydraulic claims, a classified statement is 
given showing the workings of the sluices at the Man- 
zanita Mine, Sweetland, Nevada County, from December 
20, 1876, to October 3, 1877 : 


TABLE XXXII. 

























































































THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. 259 
The arrangement of the sluices here is as follows : 

1st. East cut contained, average. 40 boxes* 

West “ “ 28 “ 

2d. Tunnel “ “ 120 “ 

3d. Long sluice “ “ 300 “ 

4th. Undercurrents (8 to commence, 10 at end).. 50 “ 

Total. 538 “ 

The long sluice is divided into six sections, each sec¬ 
tion containing the following number of boxes: 

1st section, 29 boxes, to second angle below tunnel. 


2d “ 

56 

4 4 

Pease Ravine. 

3 d 

23 

< 4 

Buckeye Point. 

4th 

67 

44 

Armstrong Ravine. 

5 th “ 

62 

4 4 

Quinn’s. 

6th 

63 

4 4 

Lower. 

The sluices in 

the cut are 4 feet in width, while those 

the tunnel and the 

long 

sluice are 5 feet wide, all of 


them having a side lining of blocks 3 inches thick. 

The riffles used in the cut sluices are hand-sawed 
blocks, 13)4 by 13^ by 10 inches, and those in the tunnel 
sluices are also hand-sawed, 13^ by 13)4 by 10 inches, 
and 1 7)4 by \y l / 2 by 10 inches; about half of each. In the 
long sluice quarried granite rocks 18 inches thick are sub¬ 
stituted for block riffles. The grade along the line of the 
cut and tunnel is 7 inches in 14 feet, while that of the long 
sluice averages 9 inches in 14 feet, with drops of 6 inches 
at each angle. 

The undercurrents (10 in number) are similar to those 
used at the French Corral mine. They are 42 feet long 
(the apron over which the water is spread forms a part), 
20 feet wide, set on grades ranging from 10^ inches to 16 
inches per box, and are paved with blocks 6 by 17 by 4 
inches in size. 

The three following tabulated exhibits are self-expla¬ 
natory, and show in the Manzanita mine the results pro¬ 
duced by widening the undercurrents. 


* Each box 14 feet in length. 








TABLE XXXIII. 

Statement showing Sources whence Gold was collected in the Manzanita Mine f rom 1877 - 1882 . 



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Mem.—A ll the undercurrents were originally 20 ft. wide and 42 ft. long. * No. 6 increased to 30 ft. in width and to 56 ft. in length 

t Secondaries to Nos. 10 and 11 washed off by high water. 

Since 18S1 all of these undercurrents have been paved witli blocks set on end, 4"X4", spaced %" apart. 


















































































































































Mem. —All of the above undercurrents were originally 20 ft. wide and 42 ft. long. * No. 1 increased to 30 ft. in width. t No. 10 increased to 30 ft. in width. 

X The sumps and cuts at undercurrents were all thoroughly cleaned, for the first time, when the mine was idle in 18S1. 

§ Secondaries were not cleaned up in 1882, and only a few of the chutes. 

Since 1881 all of these undercurrents have been lined with blocks g'Xd' set on end, spaced apart. Grade of undercurrents, 8 % per cent. 


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LO 

0 

LO 


0 

0 

0 


. 

. 


Per cent, of 

• 

• 


U. C. yield. 


00 

4 k 


Per cent, of 
Total. 


to 

OJ 

Q 

M 

*^4 

§ 

0 

»-►> 

W r 

lfi r 

s - W 

eg 

0* g 

o’o 

rt 2- 

rt 0 

• rr 

• *■* 

*3 

T> 

P 

ft) 

< 

< 

rt 

rt 

CL 

a 


00 

**4 


LO 

On 

OJ 

0 

-4 

Ln 

ON 

"4 

1 

$ 47,992 10 

; h| WW4OJ44M0O0O 

• LO • N hW 10W4 HLnN 

• Q • 0 tO Ln 4k. nO h to On 4k 

• \0 00vO 0 0 Ln Ln 00 ON 

ON *- O OOvO tO 4^ Ln 4 O 

00 on tO - »-* 0 0 ON 4*. tO 

■€# 

to 

to 00 

00^4 

4 . Ln 

0 Op 

LO 0 

4k M 

4** LO 



OOI 

• tO • Ln ONO OnnO nO Ln 00 

; ; 

Per cent, of 



*4 ONLn '4 ^ to 00 to 

* * 

U. C.^ield. 


OJ 

to 


^kj 

•<1 SO 


Per cent, of 
Total. 


to * 

w ^ 


o X 

0 9 

4 


in-in- 

4 w 

F jc c” w 

00 

’*kj 

n 0 ft 0 
rt 0 rt n 

00 

• 7T- ■ 7T 

1 • 

P P 

< < 

rt rt 

CL CL 



•m 



to 


Ln 

LO 

• 

ON 

^4 

M * 

O 

0 

• ^0 • 

to 


. VO • 

4k 

4k 

• ON • 

LO 

to 

^4 

Ln 

Ln 

Ln 


M 



0 

• 

• 

0 

• LO • 


o 

o 


K> to LO to OJ OJ 4^ Ln On 

CO CO o +* "O L/1 OJ oJ 00 
4- 00 00 00 Q\ CO 10 vj 4 


§ ^4 to 

Ln Ln 


4 # 

OJ 00 
ON 

vC O 
I 4^ ON 
Ln Ln 


8 o 8 8 


-o to 

Ln Ln 


Ln On 0 ^4 OO tO On 00 
VO 4 to 'jj OO NO 


Per cent, of 
U. C. yield. 


*> vi 
4^ M 


Per cent, of 
Total. 


to 

to 

OJ 

g 

to 

g 

0 

•-K 

5 ^ 

o 0 

r/o 

rt 0 

rt rt 

• 

• ?r 

*3 

T) 

P 

P 

< 

< 

rt 

rt 


ft. 


00 

vO 


M | 


OJ 

00 

















■m 



to 















*-< 



to 

OJ 













to 

*-4 



Ln 

p 


M 


M 

to 

to 

to 

to 

to 

4k 

Ln 

On 

4k 

0 



4 k 

Ln 


b 


'Vi 


Ln 


oc 

cr 

0 

-1 

0 

Ln 






• 

Ln 

4 - 

to 

to 

to 

_< 

0 

0 

Ln 

O' 

OJ 

O 

Ln 



Ln 

On 


0 

0 

0 

OnLO 

4k 

4 k 

004k 

4 - 

00 

O 

NO 




4k 


O 

uj 

00 

O'4k 

to 

-L 

ON cc 

On 00 

0 

M 



Ln 

0 


0 

0 

0 

c 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 


0 

0 

Ln 




M 

0 










l-H 

M 

H 


# 

Per cent. 

of 

* 

0 

* 

OJ 


Ln 

^4 

CO'kj 

nO 

0 

LJ 


0 

. 


U. C. vield. 




4k 

M 

On 


to 


4 k 

to 

-»J 


CO 





0 














M 

^>4 

Per cent. 

of 

0 

OJ 













0 


Total. 



Ln 













NO 

On 



■m 

44 - 

















M 

O 

Ln 

+& 

to 

M 



w 

M 

to 

M 

to 

to 

OJ 

4k 

Ln 

M 

'P 

4k 

00 



to 

*0 

0 


VJ 

CTN-kJ 

M 

O 


4k 

4k 

0 

ON 

Ln 

Ln 



OJ 

4 k 

LO 

OJ 

OJ 

4- 

—> 

0 

O 

0 

to 

ON 

ON 

to 

NO 




M 

Ln 

Lfl 

4k 


OOLO 

4k 

Ln 

4* 

LO 

^4 

4k 

M 

LO 




M 

00 

Ln 

0 

0 

0 

8 

8 

0 

0 

8 

0 

0 

8 

0 

0 

8 

8 

0 

0 

Ln 

0 

Ov 

to 

0 

On 




M 

0 










M 

M 

to 

• 


Per cent. 

of 


P 

LO 

to 

to 

ON 

O'O 

o<i 

00 

to 

Ln 

0 

’ 


U. C. vield. 



00 



LO 

00 


coo 

00 


00 



_ 



to 

OJ 


4 k 

On 

0 


CO* C/)* 


zF~.~ 

rt 9 rt’ 0 

rt rt (l 

0 

• yv • 

7T 

*3 

"6 

P 

p 

< 

< 

rt 

rt 

CL 

CL 


M **4 

0 0 % 


Per cent, of 
Total. 


o 

On 


8 § 


C/5 • C/5 • 


S.^E 

rt O 0 

’2 

’cT 

rt rt rt> 

rt 

• 73 • 

7 ? 

*3 

T) 

P 

ft) 

< 

< 

rt 

rt 

CL 

ft. 


00 

oc 

o 


00 

CO 


NO 

c 

M 

0 

o 


C/73 


00 
1 ^ 

I 

I o 


* 

^ MHMWWwtOtOON 

4- ON "tO W 1 H Ln 'oc4- ^ m 

4k 00 w -h OOLO ONLO w M h 

si Ot to Ln Ui 4*- GvO 4 * tO 

-4 tO Ln 10 tO Ln Ln *4 -4 tO 

Ln Ln Ln 0 Ln Ln 0 0 Ln LnLn 


M 

Ln 

NO 

0 

UJ 

O 

Ln 


LO 

ON 


On 

On 00 



TOO. 

. M M tO 

• to W On On ^4 Ln ^*4 vO to OJ Ln 

4k 4 k m MblOObJ M >4 00 

• * 

Per cent, of 
' U. C. yield. 

0 

M 


M **4 

Per cent, of 


Total. 


OJ 

o 

9 


in- 


in- 

s .*5.2 

n o n o 

o> o n n 
• 7 ? • 7 ? 


*o 

ft) 

< 

n 

Cl 


•o 

< 

rt 

ft. 


00 

00 

M 


TABLE XXXIV. 

Statement showing Sources whence Gold was collected in the French Corral Mine from 1877—1882. 































































































































































TABLE XXXV. 

Statement showing Sources whence Gold was collected in the North Bloomfield Mine from 1876 to 1882. 


1 


ci 

00 

00 


00 

00 


G 

c 

cj 

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Pi 


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c 

c 

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u <D 

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<l>*3 c 
co c 
Ccoifl 

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0 1 

o o 

T}- 10 











CO tN 


VM Vm' 


ON 

H< 






O' 


ON - 


Cl Cl 



00 

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8 

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M 


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r-v. 

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VO 

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0 

Cl 

0 »o 

0000 

0 0 00 

CO 


0 

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co 0 0 

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10 

HI 

CO 

M 

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vo 0 *0 ON 

00m 

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vo 




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0 0 co 


CO 


00 




vo 


CO VO 

CO T O' On 

CO 0 ^ 

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cT 



M 


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4 * 

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Cl - 1 - ON 

Cl 

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vo Cl 


VO co O' 



vo 

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00 


vo 

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ON 

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0 0 c 
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0 

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0 

vo 

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Cl 

8 8 

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8 8^8 

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co 


00 

\r, 

VO 

0 


Cl 

VO 

00 0 

tJ- M O v£>_ 

vo (N 

0 

co 

M 

H 


w 


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6 h 

W ff, -t H 

HI HI O' cT 

vo 

¥* 









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Cl HCOfr 

CO 











Cl 












<fr 










H. 0 


co co co 


co 

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vo 

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o’ 

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O' O' VO • 

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00 


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—- cc 

• -h £ ^ 

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^ 10 


& S 

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VO 

10 


co 


O 

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r^ 


10 

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10 

VO 

o 

00 


o 

VO 


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VO 


0 

10 

CO 

CO 

'' 4 - 


' r f 0 

o cT 


8 8 8 8 

0 vo vo Q 
mNNO 

n" o_ ^ ^ 

-r vo O' O' 


8 8*2 

8 8 G 

CO ^ 00 

CO VC 0" 
W W N 

Cl 


Ci 

O 

tC 

00 

Cl 


G 

u c 

V G 

CO 

Cl 

Cl 

00 

C"- 

T}- 

-t" 


Cl vO 

Li' • • 

Cl 00 

• . 00 00 

.02 


. — 

O ^ 

Hi 

00 

CO 


00 

00 

rx 

Q 

co 

• • covo 

VO • 

6 

V 

J . 

co 

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M 




• 

0 

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00 • 

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00 


00 

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v 

t U 

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CO C— 2 

c yjic 

m 3 . « 

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8 6 

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8 

vO_ 

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0 

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C 0 

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ON oc 


8 8 

2 8 
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m* of 


8 8 8 8 

8 8 8 8 
0 N C"t 


> vo 

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0 0 O' 
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lO IO N 

oi ol N 

hi 04 

Cl 


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c /3 C — o 
G C /3 >C 
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0 . 

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t^. 

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vO 


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Cl HI 

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co 

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w 

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M . 

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. . CO • 



0 0 





0 vo HI 



0 0 





0 00 oc 



VOOO 





0 HI Cl 



Cl c- 





VO Cl 10 



00 co 





vo" 4 -00" 








Hi •- VO 
ro 



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Cs. 

CM 


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00 


G 

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v •- 

cj <u 

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— 0*3 ~ 

C/3 C~ 2 
GtniC 
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5 G 
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tt Cl vo 
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O CC N 
00 


vo 

0 

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O' 

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r-. 

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</> 


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88 

vo 0 

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0 Cl 

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Cl 10 10 

00 h ro 

M VO 
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u 


c 

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- 15’3 g 

05 §</>»§ 

a 


8 

00 




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; c 

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vo vo 

rj- M 


00 

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vo 

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8 8 


00 


Cl 

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CO 

0 

vo 


•-»* % 


8 8 

vo o 
CO o 

ci 00 


0 0 CO 
0 0 C- 

0 0 0 
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Cl vo O' 

tC hT veT 


CO 

vo 

CO 


<u bo 0 bX )0 bo <u bx) <u bo bxo bJO <i> bo 

"O C-O C T3 C T3 C T3 C ~0 Ct C T3 G 

•5 o- ? o-g O-^ o 

Voo 'V^f'Vvo 00 vo 'V'V%*vb 'Voo 00 00 

Cl ’’t- Cl Cl Cl CO H CO d Cl Cl COVO^-tJ--^- 


<u 

r* 

c 


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u 

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c 

e 

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t; U 

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6 

6 

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c ,c 

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c 73 

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N (JJ 

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a; 

u 

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N • 

0 

u 

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1 ; 

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0 3 

30 

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G 

0 

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«s 

O ”0 

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TJ 5 

u 

0 

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u 

V 

^ in 
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G 

C 

0 G 

c - 

c 


c 

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G 

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3 E 

G 

E 3 

3 


r- 




G 

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h 

• • > 

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. <4- W- 

6 


! —T3 

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0 

• c/: c 

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— 


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’ O — 

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3 


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o 


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£ 

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6 6 6 

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rt 4; o 

. *.923 
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■sCJc/s.g 


P C3 

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'I he tailings from undercurrent No. 4 do not run through 5 and 6. t The tailings from undercurrent No. 7 do not run through No. 8. $ Cleaning bed-iock 







































































































































# 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

LOSS OF GOLD AND QUICKSILVER. 

Loss ot Quicksilver. —There is an unavoidable loss 
of quicksilver, the amount of which depends on the char¬ 
acter of the gravel washed, the quantity of water used, 
the grade, length, and condition of the sluices, and the 
number of days run. The use of a long line of sluices, 
kept in good order, and the employment of undercur¬ 
rents, tend to diminish it. 

La Grange. —The aggregate amount of quicksilver 
lost at the La Grange Hydraulic Company’s mine in run¬ 
ning six claims, during a period of two and a half years, 
aggregating 1,520* days (24 hours each), washing and 
moving 2,275,967 cubic yards of gravel, and using 1,533,728 
miner’s inches of water (2,159 cubic feet each), was 553.75 
pounds. 

The exact loss of quicksilver during four years’ work 
on the various claims of this company amounted to 1,200 
pounds. 

North Bloomfield. —For the year ending Novem 
ber 3, 1875, the North Bloomfield claims used 464,600 
miner’s inches of water (2,230 cubic feet each), and 9,649 
pounds of quicksilver were employed in the sluices. 

The loss of quicksilver at the respective claims was as 
follows: 


Name of CUim. 

Miner’s 
inches used. 

Length of 
Sluice. 

Loss of 
Quicksilver. 

No. 3. 

386,972 

Feet. 

i.Soo 

Lbs. 

9OO 

Per ct. 

II 

Woodward. 

51,550 

600 

217 

25 

Eisenbeck. 

26,000 

400 

125 

25 


* The aggregate number of days’ work of all the claims. 

263 














264 


LOSS OF GOLD AND QUICKSILVER. 


The large losses at the Woodward and Eisenbeck 
claims are attributed to old and poor sluices and steep 
grades. For the year ending October 31, 1876, the loss 
of quicksilver at the same claims was as follows: 


Name of Clairib 

Miner’s 
inches used. 

Length of 
Sluice. 

Loss ’of 
Quicksilver. 

No. 8. 

700,000 

Feet. 

1,800 

Lbs. 

2,251 

Woodward. 

30,000 

600 

123 

Eisenbeck. 

56,200 

400 

182 


In 1882 the loss of quicksilver at the North Bloom- 
held mines, with a use of 1,000,000 inches of water, was 
3,390 pounds. 

The following table shows the total number of inches 
of water run, total corresponding amount of gold col¬ 
lected, and loss of quicksilver at the North Bloomfield 
mine from 1876 to 1882 inclusive : 

TABLE XXXVI. 



Water used. 
Inches. 

Bullion produced. 

Loss of 
Quicksilver. 

1876. 

740,650 

$200,366 54 ' 



1377 . 

535,450 

292,382 95 



1878.:. 

793,999 

312,279 97 



1879 . 

9 i8 , 9 8 3 

33 U 759 76 

► 

21,512 lbs. 

1880. 

863,820 

287,924 18 



1881*.. 

744,600 

236,935 14 



1882. 

988,250 

386,146 23 

* 




5 , 585,752 

$2,047,794 77 


1 


In rock sluices which are run long periods without 
cleaning up the loss of quicksilver is very great. The 24- 
foot undercurrents at French Corral and Manzanita mines 


* Shut down by injunction four months. 





































LOSS OF GOLD AND QUICKSILVER. 265 

are estimated to lose from 7 to 8 pounds of quicksilver 
per run of 10 weeks. 

Delaney and New Kelley Claims. —The annexed 
table shows a run at the Delaney and New Kelley claims, 
in Stanislaus County, where the grades are light; the de¬ 
tails give the amount of quicksilver charged, loss of 
quicksilver, quantity of water used, and the cubic yards 
of gravel mined, with all attendant costs. 

There was more water used in the Delaney than in the 
Kelley, and the sluices of the former are much shorter 
than those of the latter. The composition of the amal¬ 
gam obtained at the Delaney was as follows: 

Quicksilver. 65.19 per cent. 

Gold. 34.81 

Total. 100.00 “ 

One hundred and fifty-eight pounds of this amalgam 
were retorted, from which 90 pounds of quicksilver were 
distilled, showing a loss of 12.62 per cent. The retorted 
gold weighed 55 pounds, and, after melting, 52 pounds— 
a decrease in the weight (from slagging off impurities, 
lead, etc.) of three pounds, or 5.76 per cent. The fineness 
of this bullion was .895. 

Loss of Gold. —The most efficient means of saving 
gold from cement gravel are a liberal use of the best shat¬ 
tering powder, breaking the cement before it is washed, 
and the introduction of several “ drops,” when possible, 
along the line of the sluices. Frequent drops and short 
lines give better results than a long, continuous line. 

Gravel moving in sluices is subjected to a grinding 
and scouring process which alone is not sufficient to dis¬ 
integrate the cement gravel unless the sluices are of great 
length. The lessening of grades and the use of undercur¬ 
rents tend to diminish the loss of fine gold. Extensive 
lines of sluices and undercurrents are expensive to build 
and keep in repair. Like the last concentrator, the last 
undercurrent will always catch some metal. 






TABLE XXXVII. 


266 


LOSS OF GOLD AND QUICKSILVER 



• _£ • 

.£ bo 2 

3 23 

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02 


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cr ~ 

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CO 


02 


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fcCi rt X 1 


rt 

be 


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JZ 33 
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CO 

rt 


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23 


CO 

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c u 
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o 

2 = 

£ 


02 w 
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LOSS OF GOLD AND QUICKSILVER. 267 

While the knowledge of the quantity of gold in gravel 
banks remains as imperfect as it is at present, the simple 
and well-known appliances now in use are the most con¬ 
venient and economical, and the excuse so often given 
for small yields—viz., loss of microscopic gold, and bad 
sluices—can be set down as one of the preliminary in¬ 
dications of a bad investment. 

The loss of quicksilver in sluices would seem to in¬ 
volve the loss of gold, but it is practically impossible to 
determine to what extent this is the case. There are 
many conflicting opinions as to the amount of fine, 
floured, and “rust” gold which escapes, but in properly 
constructed sluices the appliances already known save all 
that can be economically or profitably caught. 

In substantiation of this can be cited the work done in 
1872-6 at Gardner’s Point. The number of inches of 
water used at the claim during this period is not known. 
The number of cubic 3'ards of gravel moved has been ap¬ 
proximated from the best obtainable data and an inspec¬ 
tion of the property. From 1872 to 1874, inclusive, about 
148,000 cubic yards of dirt were mined. In 1875 the 
claim was run full time only fourteen days. In 1876, 40,- 
000 cubic yards of gravel and 260,000 cubic yards of lava 
ashes were washed. The gross yield from 1872 to 1876 
was $140,000. 

The tailings from all these washings were caught and 
confined in a ravine situated a short distance below the 
claim. The length of the sluices through which the 
gravel passed was 1,378 feet, with three undercurrents. 
In 1876 the ravine, supposed by many to be exceedingly 
rich, was cleaned up, and its gross yield was $1,168, not 
one per cent, of the total receipts from the washings. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE DUTY OF THE MINER’S INCH. 

The quantity of material that is washed by an inch of 
water in twenty-four hours is called its “ duty.” Esti¬ 
mates of the average duty have of necessity differed 
greatly, since the inch itself denotes a varying discharge 
of 1.20 to 1.76 cubic feet per minute in different parts of 
the State. Therefore the determination of the “duty ” is 
good only for the specific condition under which it is 
made. 

The circumstances by which it is affected are, the 
quantity of water, character of the material washed,, 
height of banks, use of explosives, size and grade of 
sluices, and class of riffles. The sluice affects the duty 
of the inch in so far as its capacity regulates the quantity 
washed. 

The banks of the mines which discharge their tailings 
into the American River consist principally of small, fme 
sediment, disintegrated rock, and materials which are 
easily moved. The duty of the inch in this locality is as¬ 
sumed by the State Engineer to be 4 y 2 cubic yards ; while 
at Dutch Flat, in the deep washings, he found it to ave¬ 
rage only from 1.4 to 2 cubic yards. 

The duty of the inch in the mines which “ tail ” into 
the Yuba River is estimated bv the same authority to be 
3.5 cubic yards. The gravel deposits here are composed 
of all grades of material. 

The following table from Lieutenant-Colonel Men- 
dell’s report shows the State Engineer’s estimates of the 
duty of the inch in various localities: 

268 


THE DUTY OF THE MINER’S INCH. 


269 


TABLE XXXVIII.* 


Name of Streams. 

Quantity of Water used 
in Mining and dis¬ 
charged into beds of 
rivers in 24 hours. 

State Engineer’s 
Estimate of the 
Duty per Inch. 

Amount moved. 

Table Mountain, or 

Inches. 

Cubic Yards. 

Cubic 1 'ards. 

Dry Creek. 

833,250 

3 ^ 

2 , 916,375 

Butte Creek . 

24,000 

3 

84,000 

1 Feather River. 

1 , 259.363 

5 , 458,171 

3 % 

4,407,770 

19, io 3 , 59 8 

Yuba River. 

3 H 

Bear River. 

1,117,082 

3 

3 , 351,246 

1 Dry Creek No. 2. 

44,229 

3 

132,687 

American River. 

1,914,500 

4/2 

8,615,250 

! Total. 

1 

10,650,595 

3-6 

38,610,926 


The average duty of the miner’s inch in the deposits 
mined and discharged into the San Joaquin and its tribu¬ 
taries, according to Lieutenant A. \V. Payson, Corps of 
Engineers, U. S. A., is shown in Table XXXIX. 

In discussing the subject Lieutenant Payson says: “ I 
have thought it fair to allow for the larger hydraulic 
mines 2 ]/ 2 yards per inch ; for the ‘ Jenny Lind ’ and many 
of the smaller claims with low banks, deficient head, grade, 
and water-supply, 2 yards; while in numerous instances of 
placer, river, and drift mining, where excavated material 
is thrown into sluice-boxes, I have varied the amounts ac¬ 
cording to my knowledge of the circumstances. . . . The 
quantity for Calaveras is based on the probable future 
water-supply.” 

From empirical data at the Jenny Lind claim, with a 
grade of .the tail sluices of 3V to -Jj, the quantity moved 
was estimated at 2.4 yards per inch. The material was 
coarse cemented gravel which required the use of powder. 

At Cherokee Flat, with generally very fine material, 
high banks, head of 300 to 350 feet, and grade T V, 5-5 cubic 
yards are reported by the superintendent as the duty of 

the inch. 


* See also Report State Engineer, 1880, part iii. p. 24. 

























TABLE XXXIX. 



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THE DUTY OF THE MINER’S INCH. 2 ?I 

At Dutch Flat, in Nevada County, the duty of the 
miner’s inch has been estimated* at certain mines to be as 
follows: 

TABLE XL. 


Name of Mine 

Inches of Wa¬ 
ter used. 

Total Cubic 
Yards moved. 

Cubic Yards 
moved per Inch 
of Water. 

Southern Cross. 

299,144 

598, 0 50 

2.02 

Polar Star. 

412,070 

618,130 

I.49 

Franklin. 

91,409 

326,147 

3.4 

Cedar Claim. 

247,062 

2,057,400 

7.50 


In the State Engineer’s report the estimates are un¬ 
doubtedly the results obtained after careful investigation 
of the subject; but, unfortunately, the quantity of water, 
grades and size of the sluices, and character of the riffles 
are not given. 

According to Le Conte,-f “ if the surface of the ob¬ 
stacle is constant, the force of running water varies as the 
square of the velocity, the transporting power of a cur¬ 
rent varying as the sixth power of the velocity; but the 
power of removing material will vary between the square 
of the velocity and the sixth power of the velocity.” 

The transporting power (as used by Le Conte) and the 
transporting capacity are terms which must not be con¬ 
founded. Transporting capacity denotes the amount of ma¬ 
terial which running water carries along per unit of time. 

The transporting capacity of sluices is generally great¬ 
er (comparatively) than that of rivers, on account of the 
usually heavier grades (from 200 to 300 feet per mile), 
regularity of cross sections, and character of the bottom 
and sides of the former. 

In sluices where the riffles are blocks a larger amount 
of material is moved than where rock riffles only are 
employed. An increase in the grade of a sluice would 
necessarily increase its carrying capacity. 

* By the State Engineer, W. H. Hall, State of Cal. vs. Gold Run Ditch and Mining Co. 
t “ Elements of Geology,” Jos. Le Conte, pp. 19, 20. 















272 


THE DUTY OF THE MINER’S INCH. 


The dirt as it enters the sluice has its lighter portion 
taken up and carried in suspension by the current, whilst 
the coarse and heavy material moves along on, and in 
part above, the riffles, but below the surface of the water. 
Boulders and rocks move down the sluices with varying 
velocities and in different directions as they advance,.aid¬ 
ing in stirring and disintegrating the cement gravel and 
earthy stuff, which little by little fall to pieces and into par¬ 
ticles that, segregated as light material, rise towards the 
surface of the water. The rocks and boulders travelling 
over the riffles assist in keeping the material thoroughly 
agitated in the sluices, where it is alternately changing 
position from the bottom to the top, until it is finally dis¬ 
charged. 

The material, wearing down as it advances, is kept 
from packing bv the presence of the rolling rocks which 
still maintain their solidity. Light, sandy gravel requires 
very wide and shallow sluices, as it cannot be washed ad¬ 
vantageously in deep sluices, unless by a proper mixture 
of rocks, which permits the use of a greater quantity of 
water, so that the capacity of the same sluice is increased. 

A heavy grade will compensate for a limited supply of 
water. With an abundant supply of water and material, 
the capacity of sluices will depend upon: 

1 st. The character of the material washed ; 

2d. The size and minimum grade of the sluices ; 

3d. The character of the riffles used. 

The statement of some engineers that the transporting 
power (meaning capacity) of a sluice increases with the 
third power of its grade is not verified by the compara¬ 
tive tests which have been recorded. However, these 
tests, which give the only reliable data extant, were not 
made with the same material, so there is still a very im- 
portant factor undetermined. 

The empirical results thus far obtained demonstrate that 
the transporting capacity of a sluice set on a 2.08 per 
cent, grade, and that of a sluice on a \]/ 2 per cent, grade, 


THE DUTY OF THE MINER’S INCH. 


273 


vary as the 1.52 to the 1.87 powers of these grades. How 
this will agree with the results .obtained from properly 
conducted experiments on increasing from 4 or 4 y 2 to 8 
or 9 per cent, grades remains to be ascertained. Mr. 
Hamilton Smith, Jr., considers that under these circum¬ 
stances the transporting power (capacity) of the sluice 
will increase about with the square of the inclination. 

Mr. P. M. Randall says that the transporting power 
(capacity) of water is as the 3.75 power of the velocity. 

From official data of the Blue Tent Company of the 
amounts of light material washed on a \o x / 2 per cent, 
grade, it would appear that the transporting capacity for 
such material varies as the 1.20 power of the grade. 

The time, means, and facilities for the careful and 
thorough investigation and determination of the duty of 
the miner’s inch have not as yet been afforded to the en¬ 
gineers who have been appointed for this purpose. In 
most cases the amounts of material estimated to. have 
been removed may be considered as mere approximations, 
as is evidenced by the wide differences in the . many esti¬ 
mates which are given in the various publications. * ■' 

In the suit of the State of California. vs. the Gold Run 
Ditch and Mining Company the estimates of the amounts 
of material washed and remaining, made by the various 
engineers who had investigated the subject, showed dif¬ 
ferences as great as 33 per cent, where the question of 
size of excavations and cubic contents was alone at issue. 
The difference arose largely from attempts to reconstruct 
from insufficient data the former topography of the land 
mined, no accurate information upon the point being ob¬ 
tainable. 

The only known attempts at any extended and detailed 
investigation of the duty of the miner’s inch have been 
made by the North Bloomfield and the La Grange Hy¬ 
draulic Mining Companies. The results of the work per¬ 
formed at these mines are given in the annexed tabulated 
statement : 


TABLE XLI. 

Duty of the Mi net's Inch. 
North Bloomfield Mine. 


274 


THE DUTY OF THE MINER’S INCH 



Totals. 2.437.834 1.7131 195 
















































































CHAPTER XX. 


STATISTICS OF THE COSTS OF WORKING AND THE 

YIELD OF GRAVEL. 

Correct statistics showing the costs, the quantity of 
material washed, and the corresponding yield of gold are 
rare and difficult to obtain. In the early days of placer¬ 
mining in California the question to be solved by the 
miner was not what the gravel would yield per cubic 
yard, and what it would cost to move it, but rather how 
many ounces of gold-dust he could “ pan out ” or “ rock 
out ” between sunrise and sunset. What the miner re¬ 
quired was that the daily yield in dust should exceed the 
cost of living, etc. When it fell below this he moved his 
camp to other grounds. 

The wonderful productiveness of the river bars and 
shallow placers, attested by the gold bullion and dust 
shipments, created an extravagance usual to all new and 
rich mining countries, the baneful effects of which are 
still felt. 

As the richest and most easily worked placers became 
exhausted the increasing necessity of mining on an exten- 
sive scale and with ample capital led to the formation of 
large companies. Then became evident the importance 
of determining beforehand the amount of gold in the va¬ 
rious claims and the costs of working them. This last 
included various engineering problems, as the best grades, 
the duty of the inch, etc. In this manner the first data 
concerning the yield (commonly estimated per cubic yard, 
but very often, for the sake of convenience, per inch of 
water') of the auriferous gravels were published. Many 


-75 


2 70 COSTS OF WORKING AND THE YIELD OF GRAVEL. 

of these were collected and printed in the reports of the 
U. S. Commissioner of Mining Statistics, and Prof. Whit¬ 
ney has added to them in his “ Contributions to American 
Geology.” Detailed investigations have been undertaken 
of late by the State Engineer of California and also by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Mendell, Corps of Engineers, 0. S. A. 

There is now obtainable quite a large amount of sta¬ 
tistics in printed form ; but to a great extent these are of 
no value, partly from their unreliability, partly from their 
insufficiency of detail. Miners and mining corporations 
as a rule object to making public anything concerning 
their property except what is absolutely necessary, and 
are apt, when pressed, to give ambiguous information. 
As it is impossible, after large areas of ground have 
been washed away, to accurately reconstruct their topog¬ 
raphy, all statistics of the cubic contents of excavations 
derived from surveys made after mining has ceased are 
unreliable. 

The most reliable data are those of the North Bloom¬ 
field and the La Grange Hydraulic Companies, both of 
which have carried on their works in the most intelligent 
and satisfactory manner. 

To better familiarize the reader with the subject of 
gravel-mining, and thus enable him to form an idea of the 
amount of water used per cubic yard of dirt moved, and of 
the corresponding yield and attendant costs, an exhibit of 
a claim running on an approximately minimum basis—viz., 
light pressures and smallest practicable grades—has been 
selected. For this purpose the claims of the La Grange 
Company have been chosen, as the yield per cubic yard 
and the grades there used can be considered as nearly the 
lightest with which an hydraulic claim can yield remun¬ 
erative returns. 

The annexed tabular statements show in convenient 
form the data alluded to.* The tables have been care- 


* In obtaining the data for these tables I am greatly indebted to the valuable assistance of 
Mr. Joseph Messerer, superintendent of the La Grange Ditch and Hydraulic Mining Company. 


COSTS OF WORKING AND THE YIELD OF GRAVEL. 277 


fully arranged, and the data of the yield and disburse¬ 
ments are accurate. 1 he apportionment of the material 
account has in some places been calculated from the gene¬ 
ral material account. 1 he measurements of the ground 
washed were made at each clean-up, and subsequently the 
entire ground was resurveyed and the work checked. 

TABLE XLV 1 I. 

Resume of work done by the La Grange Co. on all its claims, 
June 1, 1874, to Sept. 30, 1876. 

1,533*7 2 8 inches (2,159 cubic feet each) washed 
2.275,967 cubic yards of gravel, which yielded 
12,026.84 oz. Troy = $231,893. 


DISBURSEMENTS. 


Water. 

Total. 

$17,307 62 

Per cubic yard. 
$0 008 

Per ounce metal 
produced. 

$1 43 

Labor. 

32,345 70 

O 036 

6 85 

Material . 

21,788 35 

O OIO 

1 81 

Official. 

11,244 94 

) 

0 94 

Contingent. 

3,125 80 

V 0 006 

0 26 

Taxes. 

1,130 41 

) 

0 09 

Total. 

$136,942 82 

$0 060 

$11 38 


Average value of the oz. of metal (gold and silver) produced. .$19 29 

Average yield per cubic yard of gravel. o 1019 

Average amount of gravel washed per inch, cubic yards. 1 48 


Average yield per cubic yard of gravel. o 1019 

Average amount of gravel washed per inch, cubic yards. 1 48 


The following tabular statements show the workings 
of a mine on four per cent, grades, high banks, and with 
great hydrostatic pressure. The advantages of heavy 
grades and pressure over the minimum La Grange 
grades are clearly shown by the quantity of material 
moved, and a comparison of the work and costs will be 
of interest to those engaged in hydraulic mining (see 
Table XLVI1I.) 























TABLE XLVIII. 

Details of Work at No. 8 Claim , North Bloomfield Co. 


2 78 COSTS OF WORKING AND THE YIELD OF GRAVE! 





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COSTS OF WORKING AND THE YIELD OF GRAVEL. 2 79 


TABLE XLIX. 


Classification of Aimes and Mining Expenses. 


Class I.—Mines with Grades 1 % to 2J4 per cent: 

Banks 20 to 80 feet high ; 
many cobbles; few boul¬ 
ders ; cuts light ; material - 
easily washed ; worth Sets, 
to 16 cts. per cubic yard. 

Operating expenses 35 to 60 per cent, of 
gross yield, segregated as follows : 

Labor. 60 per ct. 

Material. 16 ** 

Water. 13 “ 

Explosives, bank powder.... 1 

high-grade. “ 

1 , General. 10 “ 


IOO U 

Class 11 .—Mines with Grades 4 to percent: 

Banks 50 to 150 feet high ; 
few boulders; cuts not 
hard ; considerable bank 
blasting; material worth 
20 cts. to 27 cts. per cubic 
yard. 

Operating expenses 45 to 52J/2 per cent, of 
gross yield, segregated : 

Labor . 42 per ct. 

Material. 13 “ 

Water. 17 “ 

Explosives, bank powder.... 17 “ 

high-grade, caps 

and fuse. 2 “ 

General. 9 “ 


IOO “ 


Class III.—Mines with Grades 4 1 4 to 4 % per cent. : 


Banks 20 to 100 feet high ; 
many boulders; cuts hard 
cement gravel : blasting ; 
material worth. 30 cts. to 
45 cts. per cubic yard. 


Operating expenses 55 to 65 per cent, of 
gross yield, segregated : 

l.abor. 54 per ct. 

Material. 13 “ 

Water.. 15 “ 

Explosives, bank powder.... 7 “ 

“ high-grade, caps 

and fuse... 3 “ 

General. 8 “ 


Class IV.—Mines with Grades 4 >4 to 5 per cent.: 


Banks too to aso feet high ; 
many boulders; hard cuts; 
material worth 5 cts. to 12 
cts. per cubic yard. 


Operating expenses 30 to 40 per cent, of 
gross yield,segregated ; 


Labor. 

54 per ct. 

Material. 

II 


Water. .. 

15 


Explosives, bank powder.... 
“ high-grade, caps 

1 


and fuse. 

7 


General .,. 

12 

IOO 

41 


ISJotp;. _This estimate is based on the supposition that each company owns its water. 

Wages $2 50 per diem. 














































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TABLE XLII 


The French Hill Claim. 


Tabular 


Statement showing amount of Water used and Cubic Yards of Gravel Moved, Cost and Receipts of Hydraulic Washing, from May 30, 1874, to October 12, 1876. 






Days. ) 

> Washings. 
Hours. \ 

J-. S ' 





> 

a 

Sh 

O 

<u 0 

O 

o.g 

Av’g Yield. 

Averag 

e Cost. 

Total Cost. 


Relative Cost per Cubic Yard. 


Bullion Yield. 


<V 

U 

c 




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O 

JS 

£ 

d 

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jjjfi Fineness 


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w- I 

0 0 

Year. 

£ 

£ 

0 

0 

a 

(A 

A 

C 

O 

£ 

c3 

0 

£ 

W 

Amount o] 
used in : 

M. I. 

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0 

0 

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s 

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£ 

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£ 

Material, etc 

Cubic Yar 

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C 

oS 

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X £ 

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S 

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2 XI 

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C 

nl 

c 

<L» 

£ 

Melting and I 

fining. 

m 

O 

CJ 

O 

Amalgam. I 

Avoirdupoi: 

Weight bef< 

Melting. I 

A \ oirdupoii 

Gold. 

u 

if . 

0 

O 

0 

V 

> 

Value of Silvc 

0 c 

1.2*0 
re — V 

2 £ 3 
0-^*0 ! 
H 

1874 

30 

May . .. 




oJ 




























June... 






,c 








. 













” 


.... 




July .. 

6 

43 21 

52,675 



E 


32,822 

0.62 

$□ 25 

! 

>0 40 

1 .... 


$16 68 

$2,699 50 

i . 

$389 96 


S3,3°^ r 4 

$0 082 





>0 017 



$0 IOQ 

121.00 

48.00 .921 


$*3,3°4 29 

.... 



15 

Aug.... 




















vJ9 2 9 j,34.^ 



Sept.... 




0 

m 





























.... 



3 

Oct .... 

I 

38 21 

461675 


C 

52,316 

1.01 

T 3 

12 



3 1 

7 3 2 

1,880 06 



S22 76 
604 52 


2,434 18 
2,905 2 7 

035 

039 






OOq 



054 

059 

58.CO 
70.00 

23.00 .936 
25-75 -934 

.055 

...... 

>5 49 

19 99 

6,426 62 
7,240 38 


27 

Nov.. .. 

26 

44 23 

53i975 

•n 




57,600 

1.06 

13 

12 



2,293 43 











0,411 I3 


Dec. .. . 


> 


















.051 


1875 


Jan .... 





0 

•4- 

1 .... 




... 




. 











1 











23 

Feb. ... 

21 


72,565 



in 

JU 




16 




44 02 

3,427 67 



8l2 72 


4,284 41 










117.2c, 

43-3' -93 s 

.054 

12,050 93 

29 07 

12,080 00 


March.. 




0 

ro 
























April... 
May.... 
June. .. 
July ... 
Auer.... 
S *pt.... 
Oct .... 





<U 















$3,757 29 

3,757 29 
5,33 1 33 


















29 

28 


7 2 ? 2 75 


d 

E 




14 





35 71 

4,486 14 

. 



r 09 48 











103.50 

37.25 .92I 

.056 

10,366 59 

30 49 

10,397 08 




in 

0 

•; 






















15 

14 

22 12 

2 7,000 

> 

c 

, 




10 





10 33 

1,785 26 

.... 



302 40 


2,097 Q9 
2,900 00 
2,792 16 
1,478 21 











30.00 

IO.5O .928 

.055 

2,891 58 

8 10 

2,899 










$j 0104 

$ ) 0526 


$2,900 00 




$0 0042 


$> 0057 




■ $0 0004 




8 

41 12 

12 3 

49,800 
14, ISO 

< C \ 






15 

12 



24 69 
10 20 

2,209 7 T 
1,309 53 

. 


557 76 

158 48 









73-75 

1 7*3’ 

26.68; .95I 

6.44 .94I 

.047 

.052 

7,545 3 1 
1,818 34 

15 80 
5 05 

7 i 56 i ii 
1,823 39 


*4 

l 3 

• r . 

0 

0 

0 


■ 49°,23° 

1.14 


12 






041 






OOS 



059 


3 




26,500 

54,85° 

e 

00 

u, 









‘9 47 
32 89 

1,292 54 
2,063 99 



296 80 
614 32 













46.00 
63.12 

15.44 -9*9 
22.68 .940 

.057 

4,462 84 
6,121 73 

20 49 
15 00 

4,483 33 
6,130 731 

1876 

Jan .... 
Feb. 

3> 

45 *7 


0 





11 








2,711 2 ) 












e 


£ 





















.050 






1/5 

M 

c 




























. 




25 

April.. . 
May ... 
June... 
July ... 
Aug.... 
Sept.... 
Oct .... 

24 

73 15 

87,750 







11 





50 OO 

2,863 74 



982 80 


3,896 54 











105.25 

36-44-936 

.052 

10,151 95 

27 00 

10,178 95I 


J 
























8 

7 

20 I3 

24,680 

VO 


0 

J 



13 

> 




13 7° 

1,099 91 



276 41 

112 39 

I,5°2 41 






a 

. . . 




31-75 

12.09 -936 

.054 

3,3 2 5 67 

8 91 

3,334 581 








0 
























































i .... 










12 

34 21 

41,850 



10 


44,000 

1.05 



°9 

j .... 


16 59 

1,164 58 



468 72 


1,649 89 

026 






OI 

j .... 

046 

42.00 

15.25 1 .926 


... 

4,269 76 

II OO 

4,280 76 













.... 








521 7 

624,745 




676,968 


$0 !4 

$ 

0 13 

$0 0104 

$0 0526 

$312 96 $28.S76 06 

$2,900 00 

$',09713 

$3,869 68 

$*2,655 83 

$0 042 

$0 0042 

$0 0057 

* 

O 0104 

$0 0004 

$0 063 

878.93 

322.83. .. 


$89,940 51 

$245 68 $90,186 19 
















' 









1 

1 

i 


Note. _ A recent survey by Mr. J. L. Jernegan, M.E., of the ground washed on this claim since the date of above work showed that 252,614 cubic yards moved yielded 13.8 cents per cubic yard. 



















































































































































































































































































































TABLE XLIII 


The Light Claim, Patricksville. 


Tabular Statement showing Amount of Water used and Cubic Yards of Gravel moved, Cost and Receipts of Hydraulic 


Washing , from February 12, 1875, to September 26, 1876. 






1 

> Washings. 

1 

J-i •» 

« 52 

03 3 




> 

i Gravel 
■ inch of 

Av’ge Yield. 

Averag 

e Cost. 

Total Cost. 



Relative 

Cost per 

Cubic Yard. 


Bullion Yield. 


x 

V 

0 

c 

43 

6 

E 



£J§ 

-'t- 

</i 

V 

u 

t/3 

34 

C 

rt 

M 

are. 

h. 

0 

1-4 

03 

x 

u 

03 

>* 

u 

X X 
h 03 
« > 

hi 

03 

Pi 

1 

03 

X 


1 

B 

G 





s 




03 

X 

X 

c 


m 


Fineness 


hi 

0 0 



1 End of Run. 

O 

cn 

1/3 

1/3 

03 

X 

u. 

o3 X 

Cubic Yards 
Moved pei 
Water. 

£ 

03 

d'H 

X! 

G 

oJ 


hJ 

X 



13 


h -3 

X 




J 

Ex 

c< > 

XX-~ 
v 0 
X . G. 



'o 

O 



Year. 

j Run Co 

Months, 

ft hi 

>. G 

OS O 

Q X 

Amount 
used : 
M. I. 

0 

43 

x 

oS 

h. 

O 

x 

'v 

X 

Oh 

01 

rt 

& 

.E oS 

G^ 

u 

O 

G 

h. 

43 

Ph 

X 

3 

CJ 

03 

P. 

Pi 03 

0 2 

03 0 

X J3 

H G 

Jt(j 

X 

Melting 

fining. 

Labor. 

Blocks ai 

ber. 

Water. 

Material 

H 

X 

G 

0S 

hi 

O 

Labor. 

Blocks ar 

ber. 

Material. 

Water. 

Melting i 

fining. 

Total Co« 

S tfj 

< z 

0 

P 

Weight 

Melting 

Avoirdi 

Gold. 

Silver. 

O 

03 

"rt 

> 

O 

O 

> 

Total amc 

Bullion 

duced. 

187s 

12 

Feb.... 




43 






























March.. 




X 








' 






'i 

















23 

April... 
May ... 

22 

46 21 

42,198 

C 


0 

c 



$0 12 




$18 26 

$1,928 74 



$472 62 


$2,419 62 








51.00 

18.15 

935 

.052 

$5,115 15 

$n 13 

$5,126 28 


4 

16 

June. .. 

J^y... 

Aug.... 

3 

3° 4 

27»I5 2 

O 

ro 

V 

t>. 

■ 453,038 


IO 




7 08 

1,187 32 



3°4 10 


1,498 50 

$0 018 


$d 0017 

$0 004 




27-25 

10.60 

•950 


2,926 47 

6 65 



1 5 

32 12 

29,250 

4) 

X 

0 

VO 

0 

c 

03 

2.30 

IO 

!• $0 05 

1 .... 



10 33 

I >339 2 7 



327 60 


1,667 20 
956 08 
2,287 96 

$0 008 



$0 035 

32.00 

11.20 

.928 

•°55 

3,084 63 

8 26 

3,092 89 


11 

Sept.... 
Oct.. .. 
Nov.... 

10 

49 18 

44,784 

is 

VO 



13 



24 69 

I,76l 69 



50158 

• $956 08 








59.00 

21-35 

•951 

.047 

6,035 55 

15 OO 

6*050 55 


J 5 

14 

24 14 

22,132 


(N 

03 

'n 



17 




IO 20 

9 S 7 52 



247 88 


1,245 6° 








35.81 

13-33 

.941 

°5-' 

3,765 64 

8 55 

3*774 lo 

1876 

2 

Dec.. .. 
Jan. ... 

1 

29 3 

26,214 

73 

<U 

C3 

4J 

0 

c 

J .... 


IO 


- $0 0062 

- $0 0318 

17 IO 

1,233 96 


$5,800 00 

293 60 


1,544 66 






- $0 0003 


31.00 

10.41 

.942 

-°54 

2,760 89 

IO 05 

2,770 94 

7 

Feb.... 
March.. 

6 

44 4 

49,688 


43 

0 

in 

03 

Q, 

84,220 

1.69 

14 

08 



32.88 

1,925 36 



556 50 


2 ,5 T 4 74 

022 

0084 

0017 

006 



038 

72.53 

26.06 

.940 

. nrr 

7.426 IO 

IT 81 

7.444 9T 


26 

April.. . 
May . .. 

25 

70 8 

7^,126 1 


VO 

O 

d 

ro 

82,680 

1.04 

12 

12 



50 00 

2,459 86 



886 21 


3,396 07 

029 

0084 

0005 

01 



CO 
• '*■ 

: 0 

106.25 

36.79 

936 

.052 

10,249 7° 

27 OO 

10,276 70 



June. . 




<0 

C4 













■ 76 36 

76 36 

















July... 
Aug.. . . 



... 


03 






























1 

































Sept.... 

26 

48 13 

54.611 

1 

c 

■'S' 


VO 

63,306 

*■*5 

°7 

06 

J ••• 

.... 

16 63 1 

1 

1,917 76 

J 


6l I 64 

j .... 

2,546 °3 

030 

0084 

0005 

009 

j 


048 

39-5° 

15.00 

8S0 

064 

3,963 41 

11 66 

3.975 °7 





576 1 

375,155 




683,244 j 

1.82 ! 

>o 12 

$0 066 

$0 0062 

$3 0318 

$187 17 

00 

'-n 

$5,800 00 

$4,201 73 

^1,032 44 

$25,952 82 

$0 022 

■m 

8 

CO 

$0 0015 

$0 006 

$0 0003 

$0 038 

454-34 

162.80 



$45,3 2 7 54 

$117 11 

$45,444 65 

% 




1 " 

1 




1 




















































































































































































































































TABLE XLIY, 


The Chesnau Claim. 


Tabular Statement showing Amount of Water used and Cubic Yards of Gravel moved , Cost and Receipts of Hydraulic Washing , from fune i, 1874, to October 3, 1876. 


















° £ 





07 O 


X 

07 

O 



«/5 

b£ 

.5 

03 P 

tr . 

07 

C /7 

07 

oS 

O 

ojj 


07 

a 

s 


c 

p 

Pi 

d 

Sf 

<+-. <N 

O 

3 

CO 

03 

PQ 

P 

t ft 
c/l 

07 

>- 

c/1 

XI 

. 

o 3 X 3 

t/; »-< 

U 07 
- P, 

CO 


0 

u 5 



O 


Dh 


r ’"' 07 oj 

ro 

u 

c 

c 

0 

0 

-0 

. c /5 

C/l l-< 

>» P 

03 O 

moui 

used 

m. : 

07 

“C 

03 

A 

'bfl 

* 07 

l-c 

07 

- , C/l 

.Si 

P^ 

ubic 

Mov 

Wat 

>- 

« 

s 

fd 

Q X 

< 

0 

X 


u 

CJ 

1874 

1 

June. .. 



8,675 



C 


2.81 

4 

July ... 

3 

14 IT 




24,395 


17 

Aug.... 

VS 

31 2 3 

19,175 

vO 


X 

30,346 

1.58 



Sept.... 

28 

34 21 

21,345 


o 3 

30,118 

1.41 


2 

Oct.. .. 
Nov.... 






vO 




24 

23 

43 2 

25,850 



c/) 

07 

55,413 

2.14 





C 

1 » 

N 



1875 


Jan.. .. 




ro 

07 

07 

O 

50,800 




Feb.... 

19 

72 16 

43,920 


« 


1.15 




Claim 

Closed. 


VO 

0) 





March.. 











April... 




£ 

N 

P. 



1876 

1 

May ... 




vO 






6 

June. . 

5 

20 17 

23,425 




[■ 71,810 

1.18 



July... 






0 


6 

Aug.. . . 

5 

3614 

37,230 

C 



). 




Sept.... 








• O 

• OO 

• 6 



Oct .... 

3 

24 22 

27,39° 



in 

22,050 





279 6 





284,932 

1 -37 










Av’ge Yield. 

07 

X 

rt 

> 

OJ 

!x 


O 

rC 

u 

c 

IS 

p 

u 

u 

Jh 

Pk 

£ 

$0 45 

• VO 

• 0 

; <£>■ 

23 

14 

25 

18 

23 

11 

33 

28 

14 

}'■•••• 


r 13 

T 7 

> . 

II 

14 

$0 23 

$0 16 


Average Cost. 


X) X 
Jr w 
* > 
p* o 

<u 

P, 07 
° 2 


$0 


0082 


$0 0082 


PH 

Jg 

a o 

« 3 
csCJ 


$0 


'497 


$0 0497 


Pi 

X 


$22 23 
5 64 
31 36 

7 32 


44 °2 


13 70 
27 64 
16 60 


$168 51 


Total Cost. 


rt 


$711 36 
i,m 2 5 
1,050 87 


1,342 87 
2,419 87 

1,178 3° 
i,S8i 52 
746 93 


$10,442 97 


217 


97 


1,217 97 


$97 16 
214 76 
239 06 

289 52 


49 1 9 1 


262 36 
416 97 
306 77 


$2,318 51 


f$i, 47 i 


3°4 


19 


56 


$',775 75 


H 

X 


T ,33 r 

ii 3 21 

1 >639 
I > 47 1 

2,955 

1,217 


1,454 36 


2,326 

304 

i ,°7° 


$0 028 
036 
034 

024 


047 


$15,923 71 $0 036 


Relative Cost per Cubic Yard. 


042 


°33 


tl 

X 

C 

a 

in 

O (L> 
-2^ 
PQ 


)► $0 0042 


p 0042 


00 76 


0031 


$0 0062 


g>o 004 
008 
007 

005 


009 


009 


Pi 

x 


iJ '-G 


- $0 


OOO5 


oj8 


0005 


$0 043 
025 
052 

040 


067 


055 


Bullion Yield. 


“1 


Amalgam. 

Pounds Avd’ps. 

Weight betore 

Melting. Lbs. 

Avoirdupois. 

Fineness 

Value of Gold. 

Value of Silver. 

Total amount of 

Bullion Pro¬ 

duced. 

Gold. 

Silver. 

35.00 

14 OO 

943 

.047 

$3,958 3 t 

$9 03 

$3,967 34 

41 .00 

15-75 

944 


4,506 97 

6 IT 

4,513 08 

52.25 

19-73 

.936 

•055 

5,497 36 

15 49 

5,512 88) 

63.75 

21.88 

•934 

-051 

6,134 53 

19 °9 

6,153 62 

142.00 

52.45 

945 

.051 

I 4 , 5 8 5 74 

43 65 

14,629 39 

3 1 * 2 5 

11.90 

.936 

•°54 

3,273 29 

8 88 

. 

3,282 17 

63.00 

24.50 

.895 

.068 

, 6,544 73 

20 58 

6.565 3 T 

31.00 

11.25 

. Q 2 Q 

0 9 

1 3 A 47 36 

IO 58 

3, x 57 94 

459-25 

171.46 


• $ 47, 6 48 32 

1 1 

$133 41 

$47,781 73 










































































































































































































TABLE XLV 


The Johnson Claim. 

Tabular Statement showing Amount of Water used and Cubic Yards of Gravel moved , Cost and Receipts of Hydraulic Washing, from March i, 1875, to December 16, 1875. 


Year. 

Run commenced. 

Months. 

End of Run. 

Days, j 

V Washings. 
Hours. ) 

Amount of Water 
used in 24 hours, 

M. I. 

Grade of Sluices. 

1875 

1 

March.. 






22 

April.. . 

21 

22 n 

18.040 

j 



May.... 






3 

June. .. 

2 

2 7 5 

21,770 

£ 


>7 

July ... 

16 

33 6 

26,604 

0 



Au 3 .... 






IO 

Sept.... 

9 

24 12 

19,600 



IO 

J)ct .... 

9 

11 12 

9,200 




Nov... 







Dec.... 

16 

20 2 

16,064 






139 2 

111,278 








o 


G» X) 

0 3 

JO > 


-196 


632 


196,632 


lx 

L. u 

o.s 


<v 




o « 

U 


76 


1.76 


Av’ge Yield. 


06 

07 


07 

06 


09 


$0 08 


O 


( «b>o 04 


$0 04 


Average Cost. 


rtO 


CV o 


0063 


$0 0063 


a 

• T 3 




(-$0 


0286 


$0 0286 


Total Cost. 


Melting and Re¬ 

fining. 

Labor. 

Blocks and Lum¬ 

ber. 

Water. 





4 

$18 26 

$L 7>5 25 


.... 

$2o2 05 

7 08 

558 24 



243 82 

10 33 

667 83 



297 97 




- $582 03 


24x69 

494 39 



219 52 

10 20 

250 87 



IO3 04 

9 95 

356 5 ° 


.... 

I79 91 

$ 3 o 51 

$ 4,043 08 

$582 03 

$1,246 31 


$1,514 06 


$1,514 06 


TJ 


o 


$H 935 56 


809 14 
976 13 
2,096 09 
738 60 
364 II 


546 36 


$7,456 99 


rQ 

a 

*-l 


$0 020 


Relative Cost per Cubic Yard. 




$0 0029 


$0 0029 


0076 


$0 0076 


$0 006 


$0 006 


v tc 
2 


$0 OOO4 


!• $0 037 


$0 037 


Bullion Yield. 

Amalgam. Lbs. 

Avoirdupois. 

1 Weight before 

Melting. Lbs. 

Avoirdupois. 

Fineness 

Value of Gold. 

Value of Silver. 

Total amount of 

Bullion Pro¬ 

duced. 

Gold. 

Silver. 

20.25 

7.20 

•935 

.052 

$2,026 26 

$7 30 

$2,033 56 

‘ 3 - 5 ° 

5.25 

.950 


1.447 97 

4 75 

>.452 7 2 

22 .OO 

7.60 

.928 

•055 

2,092 27 

6 54 

2,098 71 

13-75 

4-97 

•951 

.047 

1,404 14 

4 35 

1,408 49 

5 - 3 * 

1.98 

... 

.941 

.052 

557 66 

2 95 

560 61 

16.00 

5.20 

•935 

050 

1,588 87 

5 2 » 

1,594 08 

90.81 

32.20 



$9,117 17 

$31 IO 

$9,148 17 


TABLE XLVI. 

The Sicard Claim. 

Tabular Statement showing Amount of Water used and Cubic Yards of Gravel moved, Cost and Receipts of Hydraulic Washing , from May 28, 1874, to jfanuary 21, 1875. 














































































































































































































































































































































TABLE LI. 


\uld of Gravel , including smaller Hydraulic Drift and Cement Claims , according to Authorities given. 


Name of Claim. 


Bennet_ 

Johnston .. 
Hedwick’s. . 
Whitesides . 

Nagler. 

Spanish. 

Blue Tent... 


South Yuba (Gopher Hill) .. 


Location. 


Calaveras Co 

it u 
(t tt 

El Dorado Co. 
Nevada Co.... 


Blue Lead. 


Enterprise. 


Polar Star. 


Quaker Hill . 

Kansas . 

Empire . 

Nebraska . 

Indiana Hill . 

Pond . 

Sailor’s Union ... 
Paragon . 


Dardanelles and Oro. 
La Porte. 


Secret Diggings. 

Gardner’s Point. 

Bean’s Hill. 

Jack’s Hill. 

McDoran’s. 

French Hill. 

Light Claim. 

Bald Mountain Co... 


Placer Co. 


French Corral, Nevada Co. 


Placer Co. 


Forest Hill, Placer Co. 
La Porte, Plumas Co. . 

tt u It u 

Plumas Co. 


La Grange, Stanislaus Co. 
Sierra Co. 


Pioneer Tunnel. 

East Ground, Dry Creek. . 
Westside, “ 

Piety Hill. 

Dry Creek. 

Smartsville. 

Union Gravel. 

Pactolus. 

Blue Gravel. 

Pittsburg . 

Pactolus . 


Shasta Co. 


Sucker Flat, Yuba Co. 

Empire Hill, Yuba Co. 

Yuba Co. 

Temperance Hill, Yuba Co. 

Yuba Co . 


No. of 
Cubic Yards 
Washed. 


963 

2,268 

2,963 

9,722 

20,000 

1,422 

5,138,150 

632,533 

501,028 

235,703 

1,398,963 

888,889 

388,888 

67,500 
29,166 
(tons) 600 

14,449 

2 55>933 

404,615 

124,000 

22,275 

3,630,000 


148,148 

3 T 4 

740 

5,555 

16,368 

73,566 

n 5 , 95 o 


50,040 


49,022 


883 
50,000 
2,000 
*’333 
200 Iin. ft. 
2,042,880 
792,000 
1,468,800 
2,449,120 
565,760 
60,000 


Gross Yield 


$1,320 00 
1,560 00 
T , 45 o 00 
100,000 00 
100,000 00 
13,600 00 
780,000 00 

79,699 i 5 
70,143 92 
16,599 21 

28,818 63 
100,000 00 


223,000 00 
200,000 00 
9,000 00 

75,422 47 
91,828 30 
42,800 00 
92,000 00 

17,387 78 

476,000 00 
87,000 00 
57,500 00 
300,000 00 
118,000 00 
220 00 

37 37 
300 00 
9,782 98 
8,468 35 

328,352 38 
296,737 28 

235,797 87 

269,755 00 
164,904 00 
1,400 53 
9,000 00 
741 26 
22,000 00 
170,000 00 
400,000 00 
120,000 00 
295,000 00 
1,^60,000 00 
237,000 00 
26,600 oo 


Yield per 
Cubic Yard 


V 1 37 

esy 2 
48 % 
10 28 

5 29 
5 00 
15 

J2.6 

14 

07 

02.06 


06 % 

3 3 ° 

6 85 

£15 per ton. 
5 22 
35-8 
JO -5 
74.2 

78 
» 3 -i 

3 13 
20 87 

2 OO 

79 
70 

05 

05-4 

6r 

n.4 
2 83 

5 93 

4 79 


1 59 
18 

37 
16 50 

19.5 
J 5 

20.8 

63 

4 1 

44 


Height of 
Banks 
in feet. 


13 

20 

70 

30 

4 


160-220 

150-300 


27 

18 


50 

116 

70 

7 1 
150 

30 

6 

140 

80 

5 

8 

20 

18 

57 


Authority. 


J. Rathget. 

Raymond’s Rep., 1875. 

u tt ( ( 

1874.. 

Official Rec., 1876-7_ 


Remarks. 


1878. 

1878., 


“ 1876-1878, 

Colgrove, Pettee.. 


H. Smith, Jr.. 


W. H. Pettee. 

W. A. Goodyear. 

Jos. McGillivray. 

Chas. Hendel 


W. H. Pettee.... 
A. J. Bowie, Jr. 


R. Abbey. 

Raymond’s Rep., 1875. 

H. W. Wallace. 


U 

jjr . 

H. C. Perkins . 

“ “ “ 

Chas. Hendel . 

Raymond’s Rep., 18^4., 


W. K. Conger. 


.... Cooper., 

1 £2 Amos Bowman. 

I 

59 
50 


W. Ashburner and J, 
D. Hague. 


Calculated from data in Raymond’s Rep., 1872. 

“ “ u U h 

Calculated from data, p. 84. 

Estimated by several engineers, p. 19. 

■! W ' See “ Contributions to Am. Geology,” vol. i. 

I Whitney, p. 414. 

-) W ' tL F ettee - See “ Contributions to Am. Geology,” vol. i 
I Whitney, p. 4T4. ’ 

-) W - Pettee. See 14 Contributions to Am. Geology,” vol. i 
1 Whitney, p. 414. ’ ’ 

| Chiefly top gravel, fine, loose, and sandy material. W. H. 
| ^ ettee. See Contributions to Am. Geology,” Whitney, 

j W. H. Pettee. See “Contributions to Am. Geology,” Whit- 
J ney, p. 425. 

.j W. H. Pettee. See “Contributions to Am Geology,” Whit- 
) ney p. 425. 

Cement claim. 

The richest gravel selected and milled. 

j See “ Contributions to Am. Geology,” vol. i., Whitney, p. 425 ; 

1 also, Raymond’s Rep., 1875, p. 100. 

“ Contributions to Am. Geology,” vol. i., Whitney, p. 118. 
j The bed-rock yielded $124,598 00. “Contributions to Am. 

I Geology,” vol. i., Whitney, p. 116. 

This deposit contained many large boulders. 

Drifted. 


■ Shallow spots. 


j Deep placer-mining. Cubic yards estimated from coarse dirt 
/ washed. 

(From June 24, 1875, t0 June 24, 1876, 100,080 car loads of 
J gravel mined, stripping 300,240 superficial feet of bed-rock. 
| Each car contained 1 cubic yard of loose gravel = cubic 
I yard of gravel in place. 

I Year ending June 24, 1877, 98,044 car-loads extracted, stripping 
I 343>768 superficial feet of bed-rock. 

1877- 1878, 106,160 car-loads extracted. 

1878- 1879, 90,274 car-loads extracted. 

1186' tunnel in gravel, io'-2o' above bed-rock. 


Raymond’s Report, 1874. 

Raymond’s Report, 1874. 

See “ Report on the Smartsville Blue Gravel and Excelsior 
Canal Co.,” pp. 32-35. 




























































































































































































t 


TABLE LII. 

Yield of Gravel in Foreign Gold-Fields. 


Country. 


Australia 


Canada.. 
Japan.... 


Russia (Siberia) 


Province. 


New South Wales.. 


Victoria. 


Quebec. 

Oshima. 


Shiribeshi. 

Iburi. 

Altai. 

Amur. 

Atchinsk. 

Minusinsk. . 

Atchinsk and Minusinsk. 
Bargusinsk . 


Beresowsk. 

Bogplowsk . 

Kansk and ( 

Nijneudinsk f 

Marsinsk. 

Miask. 


Nerchinsk 


Olekminsk 


District. 


Bathurst... . . 

Lachlan . . 

Southern. 

Peel and Uralla. 

Ararat. 

Ballarat. 

Beechworth.. . 

Castlemaine. . 

Maryborough . . 

Riviere du Loup. 

Musa gold-fields.. 

Musa gold-fields, 6 claims . 

Kudo gold-fields, 2 claims. 

Toshibitsu gold-fields, 7 claims. 

34 claims .. 

4 claims .. 

19 claims . 

30 claims. 


claims. 


16 government works. 
28 government works.. 

20 claims. 

78 claims . 

15 government claims. 


Semipalitinsk. 

Transbaikalia. 

Ural. 


Wcrchneudinsk 
Yenesei, Nor. hern. 


Southern. 


Yeniseisk Circuit 


Government works... . 

213 private claims. 

Government works... 
34 claims. 


19 claims. 

Private works... 

Orenburg, 243 claims. 

Perm, 124 claims.. ... 

Other works, 81 claims. 

13 claims...... .. 

24 claims, Yenashimo Valley. 

iq claims, Kalami Valley. 

10 claims, Ogne Valley... 

Sevaglikon Valley. 

Ditin and Diubkosh Valley.. 

Aktolik Valley. 

104 claims. 

133 claims. 

Shaargans Valley. 

Uderey Valley. 

Murojnaia Valley. 

no claims. 

123 claims. 


No. of Cubic 
Yards 
Washed. 


33,900 

34,000 

165,000 

3,200 

25,000 

3 ^»° ° 
100,500 
212.000 
35i5°° 
■3,226 
2,800,000 
4 * 
5 

17 

732,000 
329, OoO 
i6q,ooo 
3i8,coj 
20,084,0-0 
1 5 5,ooo 
4,165,,00 
293,000 
112,000 
115,c 00 
7. IQ4,OJO 
530,0 >0 
384,000 
2,09^,000 
2,830.000 
3,862,000 
3,716,000 
565,000 
852,000 
10,8'0.000 
687,001 
14, ',22,000 
211.0 o 
4,143.280 
701,000 
480,000 
744.000 
5Q,ooo 
3,300,000 
5.280,000 
4,050,000 
6,600,000 
1,419,000 
4,290,000 
1,190,000 

28,7iO,rOO 

3,076,000 
11,748,000 
6,600,000 
1,198,000 
20,790,000 
85,852,800 


Total 

Yield. 


$ 172,000 

226.600 
47,4°^ 
17,800 

121,500 
94,600 
189,200 

395.600 
213,800 

4,323 

21,000 


780.300 
1,448,000 

162,000 

316.700 
10,861,000 

378,800 

12,013,300 

223,600 

143,80- 

162,000 

16,765.900 

461.300 
503,000 

3,951,900 

4.839,300 

4,634,400 

5.484.800 

1.466.500 
1,667,000 

28,910,800 

5<955FFO 

66.405.600 
90,900 

8,814.200 

1,017,700 

565.700 

745^°° 
58,1 00 
2,338,(00 
16,145,100 
13,508,000 

32.358.600 

2.988.800 
26,025,200 

1,592,600 

100.475,200 

9.122.500 
37.983,40° 

20.110.600 

1,673,5°° 

60,986,200 

218,846,800 


Yield per 
Cubic 
Yard. 


Cents. 

5°7 
666 
29 
556 
486 
287 
188 
187 
602 
134 
°-75 
°-73 
o. 19 

3° 

.6 


3 

106 


3'- 


440.1 
95.8 
9Q.6 
86.6 
244 3 

- -4 

76.3 

128.4 

140.8 
233 ° 

87.0 
1 ;i .0 
18P.4 
171.0 
120.0 

147.6 

259-5 

195.6 
265 5 

866.8 
463 6 

43- 1 

212 O 

128.7 

117.9 
IOO I 

99 8 

70. I 

3 ° 5-8 

272.9 

49°-3 

210.6 

606.6 

133.8 

3813 

3°° 5 
323-3 
3°4-7 
J39-7 
293 3 
254-9 


Authority. 


“ Mines and Min. Sta¬ 
tistics.” Ann. Re¬ 
ports of the Dept, of 
Mines, N. S. W... 


! Min Statistics of Vic- 
| tona for 1879 


Remarks. 


W. E. Logan... 
H. S. Munroe... 


Official *. 
t .. 
+ 


Official *. 

187 4 . 

»• * 

“ * 


“ * 


i . 

1854-1874. 

Official *. 

1874. 

t . 

1854-1S74. 

Official * . 

1875. 

.. * 


“ * 

1874. 

t . 

1838-1874. 

Official * . 

1874. 

•» * 


« * 

1822-1841. 

“ * 

1841-1851. 

*• * 

1S51-1861. 

•* * 

1861-1875 

* 4 * 

1874. 

“ * 


t . 

1832-1S74. 

Official *. 

1S74. 

+ . 

1849-1874. 

Official *. * . 

1874. 

R. Pumpelly. . . ... 

1843-1P62. 

Official * . 

1874. 

•» * 

* 

“ 

* 

“ 

+ . 

1852-1874. 

t 

1842-1864. 

t . 

1845-1S64. 

t . 

1843-1864. 

t . 

Up to 1864. 

t . 

1841-1864. 

Official *. ... . 

1874. 

t . 

Up to 1864. 

t .. 

1839-1864. | 

+ 

Up to 1S64. 


1879 an d 1880. 


f J 879 - 


Geol. Survey of Canada, 1863. 

Trans. Amer. Inst., vol. v. p 289. 
Tests. ** Gold-fields of Yesso, p. 64.” 

35 
23. 


All the Russian data have been reduced 
to a common standard from the vari¬ 
ous terms (poods, tons, zolotniks, doi- 
las, roubles, etc.) in which the> are 
given in the originals. They are, 
from the nature of the case, approxi- 
matioi s, hut are believed to be suffi¬ 
ciently accurate for the purpose of 
comparison. The figures marked * 
are derived from the Berg. u. Hutt 
Zeitung of January iq and April 20, 
1877 I and those marked t from the 
authorities and statistics in Lock’s 
“ Gold.” 


k ' Across America and Asia,” App. 5. 


1874 - 
Up to 1864. J 
! 834 -! 874 . 


































































































































































































APPENDIX, 


APPENDIX A. 

San Francisco, Cal., May 26, 1884. 

A. J. Bowie, Jr., Esq., Present: 

Dear Sir : You will find herewith a statement of the 
produce of gold in the United States since its discovery 
in this State in January, 1848, to the close of the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1883, prepared by me at your re¬ 
quest. 

The imperfect methods of collecting and preserving 
such data in this country are so well known to statisti¬ 
cians and others as to scarcely require any apology for 
the inaccuracies of these estimates or the indulgence of 
your readers. I have long been satisfied that the pro¬ 
duce of the precious metals in this country, as well as in 
others, has been considerably exaggerated, and that the 
tendency to over-estimation is inherent in the methods 
adopted. My long connection with the mining indus¬ 
tries of this coast, however, through metallurgical opera¬ 
tions of great magnitude, enables me to eliminate some of 
the inaccuracies which have crept into published state¬ 
ments, and which have been adopted and repeated by 
subsequent statisticians. 

Undoubtedly the most reliable method of determin¬ 
ing the produce of this country in the aggregate is that 
based upon the deposits of “ domestic ” gold made at the 
several mints, as stated in the directors’ reports, and the 
exports of uncoined domestic bullion, as shown by those 

281 



2 82 


APPENDIX. 


of commerce and navigation ; though in its distribution 
both of these reports are necessarily more or less defec¬ 
tive in detail, and the latter more particularly contain 
many palpable errors and omissions. 

In order to conform to the data derived from these 
reports I have stated my estimates in fiscal years instead 
of calendar years, which are usually adopted by other sta¬ 
tisticians. As I only have the mint reports as far back as 
1855, I have not the details of foreign gold, old United 
States gold coin, jewellers’ bars, and old plate deposited 
from 1848 to 1854. I have, therefore, estimated these 
items for this period at five millions, which I find to be 
about the excess of the coinage over the “ domestic ” gold 
deposited, as shown in the “ Summary ” tables of the re¬ 
port of 1873. In the navigation reports the uncoined gold 
exported was not separated from that of gold coin prior 
to 1855. I have, therefore, estimated the amount for these 
seven years at $88,479,269, including the $33,479,269 of 
fine bars made at the Philadelphia mint in 1853 and 1854 
and not accounted for in the coinage. 

It may be well here to note also another fact which I 
think has been generally ignored or overlooked, and that 
is the large amount of private coinage made here by the 
old United States Assay Office and other coiners from 
1849 t° 1855, which was almost our only currency on this 
coast during that period. From the best information I 
can obtain on this point there could not have been much 
less than $60,000,000 thus coined for the seven years em¬ 
braced. Much of this, however, was exported as soon as 
made, but there could not have been much less than $25,- 
000,000 or $30,000,000 in circulation when the mint here 
went into operation, April 1, 1854. It then disappeared 
very rapidly, and I have eliminated the amount entirely 
by deducting it from the apparent produce of the years 
1854, 1855, and 1856, and have added it to that of pre¬ 
vious years, distributing it to the best of my judgment. 
In addition to this there should be added to the ascer- 


APPENDIX. 


283 


tained produce of these earlier years an appreciable 
amount for what was taken out of the country in private 
hands. In consequence of the high rates charged by 
steamers in those days on the export of treasure (5 per 
cent, and primage), a very large amount was thus taken 
from the country. For several years the deposits at the 
Eastern mints exceeded by ten or fifteen millions annually 
the entire exports from this city, as shown by the Custom- 
House records. As every steamer carried from five hun¬ 
dred to one thousand passengers, no inconsiderable amount 
must have gone abroad in the same way. At a later pe¬ 
riod, say from 1862 to 1872, more or less gold was thus 
taken out of the country by returning Chinese, but never 
to the extent some have supposed. Nearly the whole ol 
this gold was obtained from the establishment of which I 
was the manager, and I therefore speak advisedly. 

It may be well to explain here also the causes of the 
marked decline in the produce of California gold in cer¬ 
tain years. That of 1857 was largely due to the great 
excitement and resulting exodus from our mining dis¬ 
tricts incident to the Frazer River discoveries in British 
Columbia. The rapid decline which is noticeable from 
about 1863 was due, in part, to the two excessively dry 
years of 1862-63 and 1863-64, but to a still greater ex¬ 
tent to the great loss of mining population resulting from 
the silver discoveries in Nevada—not less than from fif¬ 
teen to twenty thousand of our population leaving for 
that State within a few years following these discoveries. 
The increase in California gold noticeable from about 
1878 is mainly due to the produce of thfc Standard and 
other mines in the Bodie district. 

While stating the produce of California at about $1,- 
100,000,000, my belief is that it does not exceed $1,050,- 
000,000, if so much. I can trace to this city at least 
$25,000,060 of uncoined foreign bullion, principally from 
British Columbia, which has not been accounted for by 
deposits at the mint or re-exports. I personally know 


284 


APPENDIX. 


that much the larger portion of this gold went into the 
private refinery, and subsequently into the mint as “ fine 
gold ” from that establishment. Again, the directors’ re¬ 
ports do not designate localities at the mint here prior to 
1862, and up to that date all domestic gold has been cre¬ 
dited to California. At the Philadelphia mint the first 
receipts of gold from Oregon were in 1853. As gold 
from that State was first shipped to this city, doubtless 
large amounts went into the mint here, and that which 
did not was exported East under the stamp of some San 
Francisco assayer and there credited to California. From 
about 1864, and for a number of years subsequent thereto, 
heavy shipments also set in from Idaho and Montana via 
Oregon, ranging for quite a period from five to eight mil¬ 
lions per annum. From 1862 to 1883 nearly $40,000,000 
of domestic gold is credited at the mint here to “ other 
States and Territories”; and as the private refinery and 
the other assay offices did a much larger business in the 
aggregate than the mint, it is fair to presume that at least 
an equal amount of this gold went into these establish¬ 
ments, and its identity was thus destroyed before it 
reached the mints. I therefore consider it a very low 
estimate to say $25,000,000 of this gold has been credited 
to California through fine gold from private refineries and 
assayers’ imported bars. This, however, does not affect 
the accuracy of the statement so far as the aggregate re¬ 
sult is concerned, but only its distribution. 

In the analysis I have been compelled to make of the 
exports of uncoined domestic treasure, a suspicion I have 
long entertained has been fully confirmed, and that is 
that a very considerable amount of the gold contained in 
the produce of our silver-mines has been exported under 
the silver valuation . This is clearly evident from the fact 
that in quite a number of years the gold so contained, and 
not accounted for by “ gold parted ” “ from silver ” at the 
mints and private refineries, exceeds considerably the en¬ 
tire exports of uncoined domestic gold. 


APPENDIX. 


285 


In the summary statement which here follows it will 
be observed that I have stated the amount of gold con¬ 
sumed in the arts, for the period considered, at $50,000,000. 

1 am satisfied that this is in excess of the facts. I have on 
several occasions made a partial investigation of this ques¬ 
tion for my own information, and the results have always 
impressed me with the idea that the popular impressions 
upon this subject were very much exaggerated. Native 
gold is absolutely unfitted for the arts without refining, 
and, with the exception of a small amount of quartz jewel¬ 
ry and a few curiously shaped specimens of placer gold, 
is not employed for such purposes to any appreciable ex¬ 
tent. The amount so employed is, therefore, almost fully 
accounted for by the deposits at the various mints, and 
should be considered with reference to the entire stock of 
gold in the world, and not confined to the current annual 
produce. The Director of the Mint, in his report of 1879, 
gives the results of his investigations of this question, as 
shown by the operations of the United States Assay Of¬ 
fice at New York for the seven years from 1873 to 1879, 
both inclusive. According to this statement it would ap¬ 
pear that for this period $24,780,884, or $3,540,000 per an¬ 
num, had been obtained from this office for manufactur¬ 
ing purposes. By analyzing the operations of that in¬ 
stitution, however, it will appear that not much more 
than $1,500,000 per annum is chargeable to the current 
annual produce of domestic gold. Succinctly stated, these 

operations were as follows: 

Gold of domestic production deposited, $48,477,238 ; 
fine gold sent to Philadelphia for coinage, $59,920,443 (ex¬ 
cess, $11,443,205); receipts of foreign gold and United 
States gold coins for recoinage, $37,322,340; jewelleis 
bars, old plate, etc., $3,690,834. By deducting this latter 
sum we have left $21,090,050 as the amount of new gold 
going into the arts. Apportioning this to the total re¬ 
ceipts, we have $11,916,000, or $1,702,000 per annum, to be 
charged to domestic gold, and $9,174,000 to be chaiged 


286 


APPENDIX. 


to gold from other sources. But for the same period the 
receipts of jewellers’ bars, etc., at the Philadelphia mint 
exceeded all the fine bars made by that institution by 
some $1,351,143, or $193,020 per annum; and the opera¬ 
tions of these two establishments are so intimately con¬ 
nected that they should be considered together. De¬ 
ducting this excess leaves only $1,500,000 per annum to 
be charged against the current annual produce. The 
business has greatly increased within the past few years, 
but I am satisfied that the average of these seven years is 
considerably above that of the whole period under con¬ 
sideration. In this city, where the gold thus employed 
is obtained entirely from the private refinery, it has not, 
until within a year or two past, exceeded $25,000 per an¬ 
num. But it has now increased to from $120,000 to 
$ 150,000. 

1 should explain, perhaps, that in the statement of gold 
parted from silver at the mints I have added to the 
amount as shown by the director’s summary statement 
the amount credited at the Carson mint to “ Nevada,” as 
nearly the whole amount so credited evidently came 
from Comstock bullion. 

By deducting from the aggregate deposits, as stated 
in this summary, the deposits prior to 1848 ($12,808,771) 
and the unparted bars made at the other assay offices and 
not redeposited at New York or Philadelphia, we have as 
the whole amount of domestic gold deposited at the mints 
and New York Assay Office since 1848, $1,179,824,781. 

To wit: From California. $723,043,793 

“ Other States & 

Territories.. 171,482,218 
“ Parted from sil¬ 
ver bullion.. 39,584,350 

“ Private Refine¬ 
ries, fine gold 245,714,420 

-$1,179,824,781 





APPENDIX. 


287 


Amount brought forward.$1,179,824781 

Foreign gold, U. S. gold coin, jewellers’ 

bars > etc . 351.735.237 


Total deposits from all sources.. .$1,531,560,018 

Total gold coinage.$1,264,623,632 

Uncoined bullion on hand June 

30, 1883, estimated. 65,000,000 

Mint deposits consumed in 

arts. 50,000,000 

Mint deposits to be accounted 

for in exports. 151,036,386 

-$^531,560,018 

The operations of the private refineries here from 1865 
to 1883 have amounted to $265,886,266, of which $243,- 
597,532 was deposited in the mint and $22,288,734 sold for 
export. Of the whole amount received $191,992,266 was 
in gold dust and bars, and $73,894,000 was parted from 
silver. I have distributed these amounts to the best of 
my judgment. Making the resume in another form, we 


have : 

Total gold coined, as above.$1,264,623,632 

“ uncoined gold exported. 463,943,938 

“ uncoined gold on hand and consumed 
in arts. 115,000,000 


$1,843,567,570 

Less foreign gold, etc., as above. 35 b 735> 2 37 

Total produce of domestic gold.$1,491,832,333 

My estimates as per statement. . 1,469,753,117 

Difference. $22,079,216 


This difference is due to the foreign gold credited to 
domestic sources in mint reports, through fine gold from 
private refineries, but which I have eliminated. 

Very truly yours, etc., 

Louis A. Garnett. 


[Signed] 























288 


APPENDIX. 


Produce of Gold in the United States from its discovery in Cali¬ 
fornia , January , 1848, to June 30, 1883. Stated in Fiscal 
Years. 


Years. 

Gold produced 
in State 
of California. 

Gold pro¬ 
duced in other 
States and 
Territories. 

Total produce 
of Gold-Mines. 

Gold con¬ 
tained in Sil¬ 
ver Produce. 

Grand Total 
Produce from 
all sources. 

1848.... 

$ 2 45,3°i 

$851,274 

$1,096,575 


$1,096,575 

1849.... 

10,151,360 

927,684 

T T,07Q,044 


1 r. 079,044 

10,396,661 

1,778.958 

12,175,619 


12,175.619 

1850.... 

41,273, 106 

665,217 

41,938.323 


41,938,323 

1851.... 

75,938,232 

602,380 

76,540,612 


76,540,612 

1852.... 

81,294,700 

712,263 

82,006,963 


82,006,963 

1853 ... 

67,613,487 

508,564 

68,122,051 


68,122,051 

1854... 

69.433,93 1 

251,627 

69,685.558 


69,685,558 

335,553,456 

2,740,051 

338,293,507 


338,293.507 

1855.... 

55-485,395 

3 1 2,364 

55,797,759 


55,797,759 

i8s6.... 

57,509,411 

369,031 

57,878,442 

. 

57,878,442 

J857.... 

43,628,172 

143,053 

48,77t)225 

. 

43,771,225 

1858.... 

46,591,140 

386,028 

46,977, r68 


46,977,168 

1859 ... 

45,846,^99 

366,957 

46,213,556 


46.213,556 


249,060,717 

1,577,4.33 

250,638,150 


250,638,150 

i860.... 

44,095,163 

875,878 

44,97 I »°4 I 

$50,000 

45,021,041 

i86r.... 

41,884,995 

2,831,895 

44,716,890 

800,000 

45,516,890 

1862.... 

38,854,668 

3,989,210 

42,843,878 

2,150,000 

44,993,878 

1863.... 

23,501,736 

7,474,808 

30,976.544 

4,350,000 

35,326,544 

1864. . .. 

24,071,423 

8,372,115 

32,443,538 

5,300,000 

37,743,538 


172,407,985 

23,543,906 

195,951,891 

12,650,000 

208,601,891 

1865.... 

17,930,858 

9,920,244 

27,851,102 

5,500,000 

33,351,102 

1866.... 

17,123,867 

12,086,941 

29,210,808 

^ • 6 ^0,000 

33,860,808 

1867.... 

18,265,452 

13,169,117 

31,434,569 

5,700,000 

37,134.569 

1868.... 

i7-555,867 

7,942,116 

25)497)983 

4,000,000 

29,497,983 

1869... . 

18,229,044 

7,607,698 

25,836,742 

3,550,000 

29,386,742 


89,105,088 

50,726,116 

139.831,204 

23,400,000 

163,231,204 

1870.... 

17,458,133 

7,907,569 

25)365)702 

3,700,000 

29,065,702 

1871.... 

17,477,885 

7.813,419 

25)29i)3°4 

5,500,000 

30,791,304 

1872. ... 

15,482,194 

6,975,843 

22,458,037 

6,900,000 

29.358,037 

1873.. . 

15,019,210 

7,213,768 

22,232,978 

12,000,000 

34,232.978 

1874. .. 

17.264,836 

6,863,012 

24,127,848 

I T, 500,000 

35,627.848 


82,702,258 

36,773,611 

119,475,869 

39,600,000 

i59, o 75,8f0 

1875... 

16,876,009 

5,572,299 

22,448,308 

13,800,000 

36.248.308 

1876. ... 

15,610,723 

5,511,272 

21,121,995 

18,500,000 

39,621,905 

1877. ... 

16,501,268 

8,862,694 

25,363,962 

18,300,000 

43,663,962 

1878.... 

18,839,141 

9,755,213 

! 28,594,354 

19,000,000 

47,594.354 

1879.... 

19,626,654 

10.421,948 

30,048,602 

9 .000,000 

39,048,602 


87,453,795 

40,123,426 

127,577.221 

78,600,000 

206,177.221 

1880.... 

20,030,761 

9,209,033 

1 

29,239,794 

6,000,000 

35,2.39.794 

1881.... 

19,223,155 

10,139,136 

29,362,291 

6,000,000 

35,362,291 

1882.... 

17,146,416 

8,468,141 

25,614,557 

5,000,000 

30,614,557 

1883.... 

17,256,873 

8,586,141 

25,843,014 

4,500,000 

30,343.014 


73,657,205 

36,402,451 

110,059,656 

21,500,000 

131,550,656 

Totals.. 

$1,100,337,165 

$193,665,952 

$1,294,003,117 

$i75,75°, 000 

$1,469,753-"7 








































































































































































APPENDIX. 


289 


APPENDIX B. 

FINENESS OF PLACER GOLD. 


% 

Mine. 

Locality. 

Fineness. 

■ 

Remarks. 

Alpha. 

Nevada Co. 

< 4 4 4 

« 4 44 

.940 to .950 

•934 

.820 

.925 to .930 
.930 to .950 

.925 to .950 

•945 

.835 to .871 
.774 to .800 

.883 

.800 to .961 

.958 to .968 

.942 to .965 
. 800 

j Gold flattened in 

American Hill. 

Brush Creek. . . . 

\ scales. 

Manzanita.. . . 

a a 

G Id coarse, 
j Gold fine 

J Gold coarse on 

French Corral. 

<< <« 

Badger Hill. 

Plumas Co. 

it i i 

Mumford Hill. 

1 ( bed-rock. 

Michigan Bluff'. . . 

Placer Co. 

• i 4 4 

a n 

it << 

Butte Co. 

Gold coarse. 

j Gold well rounded 
{ and smooth. 

1 Gold * from blue 
*\ and red gravel 
( respectively, 
i Gold from upper 
< gravel sometimes 
( reaches .980 fine. 

Cariboo Diggings.. 
Cement Hill Claims . . 

Cedar Claim No. 2... . 

Cherokee Flat. 

Canon Creek. 

Sierra Co. 

Canon Creek. 

44 4 4 

Bed of the creek. 

Goodyear’s Bar. 

4 4 44 

.884 

.835 to .890 

.920 to .930 

.930 to .934 
.836 
.914 

•939 

•925 

.885 

.864 

.864 

.926 to 936. 
.926 

.916 to .918 
.873 to .899 
.926 to .954 
.936 to .951 
.895 to .945 
•935 to .950 
.934 to .943 

North Yuba. 

4 4 4 4 


Eureka Mines (near ) 

Downieville).j 

Mugginsville. 

4 4 4 4 

4 4 4 4 

Gold coarse like shot. 

Fir Cap. 

4 4 4 4 

Monte Christo. 

4 4 4 4 


Cravcroft’s. 

4 4 4 4 


Gold Lake. 

4 4 4 4 


North Fork of North ) 

Yuba.) 

South Fork of North ) 

Yuba.I 

Hog Canon . 

4 4 4 4 

4 4 44 

4 4 4 4 


Bald Mountain. ...... 

4 4 4 4 

j Gold coarse, in 

Tim Crow Canon. 

Niagara Consolidated. 
Kellev. 

<< a 

«< «< 

Stanislaus Co. 

/ flakes. 

French Hill. 

4 4 4 4 


Light Claim. 

4 4 4 4 


Chesnau . 

4 4 4 4 


Johnson. 

4 4 4 4 


Sicard. 

4 4 4 4 






* Gold very fine and scaly on bed-rock. Out of 650 diamonds found in this deposit only 
one had as great a value as §250. 

















































































290 


APPENDIX. 


FINENESS OF PLACER GOLD— Continued. 


Mine. 

Locality. 

Fineness. 

Remarks. 

Camptonville. 

Galena Hill. 

Young Hill. 

i( 6 i 

Railroad Hill. 

Depot Hill. 

Indian Hill. 

Oaks Valley. ) 

Dad’s Gulch. } 

High Point. 

Oregon Creek. 

Pike City. 

Brush Creek Co. 

Yuba Co. 

i 6 ii 

a i * 

a H 

< < i i 

a a 

a u 

U << 

a a 

a i i 

a n 

.930 to .935 
.940 
.940 
•925 
.925 
.9IO 
•925 

.890 to .880 

.940 

.880 

.740 

.820 

<0 


According to King in “ U. S. Geol. Survey Report/’ 
Second Annual Report, 1880-81, p. 379, the fineness of 
specimens of California gold as determined try him was as 
follows: 


No. of Mines examined. 

Locality. 

Fineness. 

5 

Butte Co. 

.900 to .970 

1 

Calaveras Co. 

.850 to .960 

5 

Del Norte Co. 

.875 to .950 

1 

El Dorado Co. 

.980 

2 

Humboldt Co. 

.726 to .940 

5 

Placer Co. 

.784 to .960 

5 

Plumas Co. 

.846 to .936 

1 

Shasta Co. 

.885 

15 

Siskiyou Co. 

• 749 to .950 

1 

Stanislaus Co. 

.920 

10 

Trinity Co. 

.875 to .927 

Total .. .51 


.726 to .9S0 


Eighty specimens averaged .883.6 fine (p. 382). Dana’s 
“ Mineralogy ” says : “ California gold fineness averages 
.875 to .885. Average, .880.” 




































APPENDIX. 


29I 


King places the average fineness of gold from the dif¬ 
ferent parts of the United States as follows: 


California.883.6 

Colorado.820.5 

Dakota.923.5 

Georgia.922.8 

Idaho.780.6 

Montana.895.1 

Oregon.872.7 


All the United States.876 


Note. —The larger portion of this table was compiled from Whitney’s 
“ Auriferous Gravels. ’ 













INDEX. 


Abbey, R., on yield of French Hill 
Claim, Stanislaus Co., Cal., table li. 

Absorption, 91, 130, 132, T38. 

Abutments for dams, 97. 

Abyssinia, 16. 

Aconcagua, Chili, 27. 

Adkins, Consul, cited, 19. 

Africa, 16, 17. 

Air-valves—see Valves. 

Aji River, India, 17. 

Aktolik River and Valley, Siberia, 23, 
table lii. 

Alatri, Italy, 158. 

Alder Gulch, Montana, 40. 

Allison Ranch Mine, Nevada Co., Cal., 
48. 

Altai, Siberia, 20, 22, table lii. 

Alvarez, Expedition to Gulf of Cali¬ 
fornia, 42. 

Amador Canal Company, Cal., tables 
xiii., xv., 270. 

Amador County,-Cal., 66. 

Amalgam, 205, 249, 258, 266, tables 
xlii.-xlvi. 

American Hill, Nevada Co., Cal., 49. 

American Institute of Mining Engi¬ 
neers, Transactions of, 20, 70, table 
lii. 

American Mine, Nevada Co., Cal., 180, 
234, 270, table 1. 

American River, Cal., 63, 65, 77, 95, 
238, 239, 268, 269. 

American Society of Civil Engineers, 
Transactions of, 119, 120, 174, 176, 
213. 

Amgun River, Siberia, 25. 

Amur River, Siberia, 20, 25, table lii. 


Ancient alluvial gold deposits, Most, 
33, 67. 

Ancient river channels—see River 
channels. 

Angles of repose and friction of em¬ 
bankment materials, 102. 

“ Annales des Mines,” 70. 

Appalachian gold-fields, 39. 

Appendix A, 281. 

Appendix B, 289. 

Aquileia, Italy, 15. 

Ararat, Australia, 31, table lii. 

Area of available mining ground in 
California, 76, 77. 

Area of vvrought-iron pipes, 161. 

Ariege River, France, 16. 

Arrow, New Zealand, 36. 

Asia Minor, 15. 

Asiatic Islands, 18. 

Asphaltum in California, 72. 
Asphaltum coating for iron pipes, 167. 
Atchinsk, Siberia, 20, 24, table lii. 
Atrato River, U. S. of Colombia, 29. 
Attaki, Egypt, 16. 

Attwood, Melville, quoted, 203. 
Auriferous slate formation in California, 

65. 

Australasia, 30-37. 

Australia, 83, 205, table lii. 

Available mining ground in California, 

76 , 77 - 

Ayacucho, Department of, Peru, 28. 
Ayakta River, Siberia, 24. 

Babb Tunnel, Timbuctoo, Yuba Co., 
Cal., 232. 

Bache, Mt., Santa Clara Co., Cal., 60. 


293 




294 


INDEX. 


Back Creek, New South Wales, 33. 

Badger Hill, Nevada Co., Cal., 71, 234. 

Baikal Lake, Siberia, 24. 

Bald Mountain, Sierra Co., Cal., 84, 
table li. 

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 31, table 
lii. 

Banks of ditches, Slope of, 138. 

Bar-mining, 47, 48, 51, 78, 79, 80. 

Barguzinsk, Siberia, 20, 24. 

Barossa, South Australia, 34. 

Barrington, New South Wales, 33. 

Basalt overflow, 33, 34, 68. 

Baskir District, Siberia, 21. 

Batea, 202. 

Bath, Placer Co., Cal , 71. 

Bathurst District, New South Wales, 
32, table lii. 

Bazin, cited, 127, 129. 

Beach-mining, 36, 78, 79. 

Bean’s Hill, Plumas Co., Cal., table li. 

Bear River, Cal., 77 95, 114, 140, 

239, 269. 

Bed-rock Claim, Nevada Co., Cal., 
223. 

Bed-rock riffles, 227. 

Bed-rock Tunnel, Sweetland, Nevada 
Co , Cal., 234. 

Beechworth District, Victoria, Aus¬ 
tralia, 31, 253, table lii. 

Begert, Father, map of California, 45. 

Belgaum, India, 17. 

Bellows, W. H., flume, 150. 

Belt of the Coast Ranges of California, 
53 - 6 i. 

Belt of the Great Valley of California, 
53, 54, 62, 66. 

Belt of the Sierra Nevada of California, 
53 . 54 , 63, 64. 

Belts, Geological, of California, 53. 

Bench claims, 78. 

Benches, Washing in, 246. 

Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 34. 

Bendigo, New Zealand, 36. 

Bennet Claim, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
table li. 


Berenice, Egypt, 16. 

Beresowska, Siberia, table lii. 
Beriozofka Mine, Siberia, 22. 
Betmangla, India, 18. 

Big Canon Creek, Nevada Co., Cal., 
103, tables v., vi. 

Bituminous slate formation in Califor¬ 
nia, 59. 

Black Hills, Dakota, 146. 

Black sands, 79-88. 

Blake, W. P., cited, 16, 27. 

Blasting, 206-214. 

Block riffles, 224, 234, 257, 259, 271, 
278. 

Blow-offs, 166. 

Blue gravel, 87. 

Blue Gravel Mine, Yuba Co., Cal., 
232, table li. 

Blue Lead Mine, Nevada Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Blue Point Mine, Yuba Co., Cal., 207, 
232, table 1. 

Blue Tent Mine, Nevada Co., Cal., 
95, table xiii., 210, 273, table li. 
Bogoliubsky, cited, 2r, 25. 

Bogoslofsk, Siberia, 21, table lii. 

Boise Basin, Idaho, 39. 

Bolivia, 27. 

Bombay, India, 17. 

Bonanza Mine, Gold Run, Placer Co., 
Cal , 1 So. 

Booming, 79, 81. 

Borneo, 18. 

Boston Tunnel, Nevada Co., Cal., 234. 
Bouyer Ditch, 138, 140, table xiii. 
Bowman, A., on yield of gravel claims 
in Yuba Co., Cal., table li. 

Bowman reservoir and dam, 93, 95, 
101, 103-112, tables v., vi. 

Box, Distributing—see Gates. 

Box, Pressure—see Pressure box. 
Bracket flume, 150. 

Brazil, 25, 202. 

British Columbia, 37, 52. 

Broad and shallow ditches, 137. 
Browne, [. Ross, cited, 46, 66. 




INDEX. 


295 


Browne, Ross E., cited, 193. 

Browne, Mt., New South Wales, 32. 
Brown’s Bar, El Dorado Co., Cal., 51. 
Buccaneer^’ search for gold, 29. 
Buckets for hurdy-gurdy wheels, 194- 
198. 

Buena Vista, Amador Co., Cal., 270. 
Bullock-Head Creek, New South 
Wales, 33. 

Burehya River, Siberia, 25. 

Burke County, North Carolina, 39. 
Buruma River, Siberia, 24. 

Butte County, Cal., 49, 65, 66, 103, 
141, 142, 150, tables xiii., xv., 172. 
Butte Creek, Butte Co., Cal., 23^, 269. 

Cabarrus County, North Carolina, 39. 
Cabrera, Rodriguez, 43. 

Cajon Pass, San Bernardino Co., Cal., 

55 - 

Calaveras County, Cal., 66, table li. 
Calaveras River. Cal., 77, 238, 270. 
California, Available area of pay 
gravel, 76, 77. 

California, Dry season in, 90. 
California, Geology and topography of, 
53-6Q. 

California, Gold product of, 42. 
California, History of placer-mining 
in, 4 2 - 52 . 

California, Navigable waters affected 
by hydraulic mining, 238. 

California Mining Company, El Do 
rado Co., Cal., 95, table xiii. 
Camanche, Calaveras Co., Cal., 270. 
Campo Seco, Calaveras Co., Cal., 270. 
Cana, U. S. of Colombia, 29. 

Canada, 37, table lii. 

Canvas hose, 49. 

Capital invested in hydraulic mines, 52. 
Caratal, Venezuela. 28. 

Caravaya, Peru, 27. 

Carboniferous limestones in California, 

66 . 

Caren, Chili, 27. 

Cariboo, British Columbia, 38. 


Carpentaria, Gulf of, Australia, 34. 

Cascade Ditch, Nevada Co., Cal., 
taale xiii. 

Cassiar, British Columbia, 38. 

Castilla del Oro, U. S. of Colombia, 
29. 

Castlemaine, District of, Victoria, Aus¬ 
tralia, table lii. 

Catchment area, 93, 103, 105, table vi., 
240. 

Caving banks, 245, 246. 

Cedar Claim, Nevada Co , Cal., 271. 

Cement deposits and claims, 32, 35, 
36, 256, 257. 

Cemetery Lead, Victoria, Australia, 
32 . 

Cervo del Espiritu Santo, U. S. of 
Colombia, 29. 

Ceylon, Island of, 18. 

Chalk Bluff Ditch, Nevada Co., Cal., 
140, table xiii. 

Chaluma River, Peru, 28. 

Champaran District, India, 18. 

Champlain period in California, 80. 

Channels, Open—see Open channels. 

Charging sluices, 244. 

Charleston. New Zealand. 36. 

Charter’s Towers, Queensland, 34. 

Chaudiere River, Canada. 37. 

Cherokee, Butte Co., Cal., 49, tables 
xiii., xv., 269. 

Chesnau Claim, Stanislaus Co., Cal , 
72, 24r, 274. tables xliv., 1. 

Chezy, cited, 128, 129. 

Chia-t’i-kou Valley, China, 19. 

Chico Creek, Butte Co., Cal , 236. 

Chile Qulch Mine, Calaveras Co., 
Cal , 270. 

Chili, 26, 27. 

Chilian, Chili, 27. 

China, 19, 20. 

China Ditch, Yuba Co., Cal., 138, 140, 
table xiii. 

Chirimba Valley, Siberia, 23. 

Choco, U. S. of Colombia, 29. 

Christy, S. B., cited, 80. 








296 


INDEX. 


Cinnabar in California, 58. 

Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, 2S. 

Clark’s Ditch, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
270. 

Classification of gravel deposits, 78. 
Classification of mines and mining ex¬ 
penses, 279. 

Classification of mining operations, 78. 
Cleaning up, 247, 248. 

Clear Creek, Shasta Co., Cal., 46. 
Clear Lake, California, 53, 56, 58, 60. 
Clough’s Gully, New South Wales, 34, 
67 . 

Clutha River, New Zealand, 36. 

Coal in California, 58. 

Coal measures, Auriferous, New South 
Wales, 34, 67. 

Coal tar, coating for pipes, 167, 168. 
Coast Ranges, California, Belt of, 53- 
61. 

Coating iron pipes, 167, 168. 
Coefficients of discharge of water 
through ditches, 131-134. 
Coefficients of discharge of water 
through rectangular orifices, 123. 
Coefficients for roughness, 129. 

Coloma, El Dorado Co., Cal., 46. 
Colombia, United States of, 29. 
Colorado River, 45. 

Colorado, State of, 41, 81. 

Columbia Hill, Nevada Co., Cal., 71, 
124, 234, table 1. 

Concepcion, U. S. of Colombia, 29. 
Concow reservoir, Butte Co., Cal., 
103. 

Cook Bros’. Ditch, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
270. 

Copiapo, Chili, 26. 

Copper veins in California, 61. 
Coquimbo, Chili, 27. 

Cortez, Conquest of Mexico, 31. 
Cossack District, Siberia, 21. 

Cost of dams, 103, 109, 112. 

“ ditches, 139-142, 153-156. 

“ electric light, 246. 

“ flumes, 153 — 1 56. 


Cost of pipes, 169, 170. 

“ prospecting work, 88. 

“ reservoirs, 93. 

“ sluices, 232-235. 

“ tunnels, 218, 233, 234. 

“ undercurrents, 232. 

“ working, 275-277, tables xlii.— 
lii. 

Cosumnes River, Cal., 77, 238, 270. 
Cotta, B. v , cited, 70. 

Coy Diggings, Victoria, Australia, 32. 
Coyote Hill Ditch, Nevada Co.,Cal.,47. 
Coxe, E. B., cited, 119. 

Cradle—see Rocker. 

Craig. R. R., on discharge pipes, 49, 
50, 180, 181. 

Crawford, J. J., cited, 124, table 1 . 
Crawford’s Claim, El Dorado Co., 
Cal., table 1 . 

Cretaceous strata in California, 54, 58, 
59, 64, 66. 

Creviceing, 248. 

Crooked Lake, Nevada Co., Cal., 104. 
Crosiner, cited, 27. 

Curves of flumes, 144. 

Curves of sluices, 218, 227-231. 

Dahlonega, Georgia, 39. 

Dakota Territory, 41, 146. 

Dams, 90-118, 239. 

Dams, Wing, 48. 

Dana, Jas. D., cited, 45, 80. 

D’Arcy, cited, 129. 

Dardanelles and Oro Mine, Placer Co., 
Cal., 208, 209, table li. 

Darfur, Egypt, 17. 

Dargo District, Victoria, Australia, 32. 
Darien, Isthmus of, 29. 

Davidson County, N. Carolina, 39. 
Debris—see Tailings. 

Debris dams, 112-118, 239, 240. 

Debris in streams, 238-240. 
Deep-placer mines, 48, 78, 82. 

Deep tunnels, First, in California, 51. 
Deer Creek Tunnel, Yuba Co., Cal., 
232. 





INDEX. 


297 


Deer Lodge County, Montana, 40. 
Deflector, 50, 183, 184. 

Delaney Claim, Stanislaus Co., Cal., 
228, 265, table 1. 

Depressions, Rich pay in, 72 
Derricks, 185. 

Devonian deposits in Canada, 37. 
Dharwar, India, 17. 

Diablo, Mount, Cal., 56, 58, 59, 60. 
Dibulla River, U. S. of Colombia, 29. 
Dictator, Hoskins’, 50, 182. 

Diodorus, cited, 16. 

Discharge pipe—see Nozzle. 

Discovery of gold in California by 
Marshall, 46. 

Distributing box—see Gate. 
Distributing pipe, 158. 

Distributing reservoirs, 93. 

Distribution of gold in gravel deposits, 
68-75. 

Distribution of gold in sluices, 232, 
252-259, 260-262. 

Ditches, 47, 130, 135-157, table xiii. 
Ditin, Siberia, table lii. 

Diubkosh Valley, Siberia, table lii. 
Dogtown, Calaveras Co , Cal., 270. 
Doha Ana County, New Mexico, 40. 
Donner Pass, Nevada Co., Cal., 64. 
Dormentez, Castillo, 43. 

Dougherty Ditch, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
270. 

Douro River, Portugal, 16. 
Downieville, Sierra Co , Cal., 47. 
Drainage of the Great Valley of Cali¬ 
fornia, 62. 

Drake, Sir Francis, 43. 

Dredging machines, 36. 

Driffield River, South Australia, 35. 
Drift-mines, 51, 71, 72, 78, S2-84. 
Drift>, Prospect, 83, 87, 88. 

Drybread Diggings, New Zealand, 36. 
Dry Creek—see Table Mountain Creek. 
Dry Creek, Amador Co., Cal., 270. 

Dry Creek No 2, Cal., 239, 269. 

Dry Creek Claim, Shasta Co., Cal., 
table li. 


Dry season in California, 90. 

Dry-stone dams, ior, 103. 

Dry-washing, 79 

Dump, 86, 240-243. 

Dutch Flat, Placer Co., Cal., 140, 
table xiii , 239, 268, 271. 

Duty of the miner’s inch, 268-274, 
277, 278, tables xl.-xlvi. 

Earthen dams, 99. 

Earthenware pipes, 159. 

Echunga District, South Australia, 35. 

Eckart, W. R., cited, 122. 

Egypt, 16, 17. 

Eight-Mile Diggings, New South 
Wales, 33. 

Eisenbeck Claim. Nevada Co., Cal., 
263, 264. 

Ekaterinburg Siberia, 21. 

Elbows for pipes, 165. 

El Dorado Company’s Ditch, El Do¬ 
rado Co., Cal , 138, table xiii. 

El Dorado County, Cal., 63, 124, 
tables 1., li. 

El Dorado Reservoir, El Dorado Co., 
Cal., 95. 

Electricity, Firing by, 213, 214. 

Electric light, 246. 

Elevator, Plydraulic, 36. 

Embankment materials and slope, 102. 

Empire Claim, Nevada Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Empire Hill, Yuba Co., Cal., table li. 

Empire Mill, Nevada Co., Cal., 190. 

Empire Reservoir, Nevada Co., Cal.,94. 

England, 92. 

English Dam and Reservoir, Nevada 
Co., Cal., 93, 95, 101. 

English Tunnel, Badger Hill, Nevada 
Co., Cal., 234. 

Enterprise Mine, Nevada Co., Cal., 
208, 234, table li. 

Erosion of material in running water, 
236, 272 

Ethiopia, 16. 

Eucumbene River, N. South Wales, 33. 







298 


INDEX. 


Eureka Lake and Yuba Canal Com¬ 
pany, 77, 93, 95, 133, 138, 139, table 
xiii., 234. 

Euxine Sea, Russia, 15. 

Evaporation, 91, 135, 143. 

Excavating ditches, 137, 154-156. 

Excelsior Ditch, Yuba Co., Cal., 138, 
140. 

Excelsior Reservoir, Yuba Co., Cal., 94. 

Explosives, 154, 210, 213, 233, 234, 
table xliii. 

Fale’s Hill, Plumas Co., Cal., table 1 . 

Fall Creek Reservoir and Dam, Ne¬ 
vada Co., Cal., 104. 

Fanning, J. T., cited, 96, 100, 102, 
119. 

Farrell Tunnel, Columbia Hill, Ne¬ 
vada Co., Cal., 234. 

Faucherie Reservoir and Dam, Nevada 
Co., Cal., 93, 95, 104. 

Feather River, Cal., 47, 63, 77, 95, 
238, 239, 269. 

Feed pipe, 158, 178-180. 

Fifteen-Mile Diggings, New South 
Wales, 33. 

Filling pipes, 168, 178. 

Fineness of gold from California mines, 
289-291. 

Firing of mines, 213, 214. 

Fisher’s Hydraulic Chief or Knuckle- 
joint, 50, 181. 

Flat deposits, 78. 

Flow of water in open channels, 119, 
127-130. 

Flow of water through circular pipes, 
174-176. 

Floyd County, Virginia, 39. 

Flumes, 135-1 57 . 218. 

Fomiha River, Siberia, 22. 

Forbes, James Alexander, 45. 

Forbes, J. R., cited, 205. 

Fordyce Reservoir and Dam, Nevada 
Co., Cal., 95, 101. 

Forest Hill, Placer Co., Cal., 51, 71, 
208, table li. 


Formosa, Island of, 18. 

Formula for discharge of water over 
weirs, 120. 

Formula for flow of water in canal, 
Kutter’s, 129. 

Formula for flow of water through cir¬ 
cular pipes, 178. 

Formula for flow of water through 
ditches in California, 133. 

Formula for thickness of iron for pipes, 
table xv. 

Formula for velocity of hurdy-gurdy 
wheels, 195, 196. 

Fort Hall, Idaho, 40. 

Fort Tejon, Kern Co., Cal., 53, 55, 
59> 61. 

Fossils and fossil wood in California, 
67. 

Foster, C. Le Neve, cited, 28. 

Foundation for dams, 94. 

France, 16, 92. 

Francis, J. B., cited, 119. 

Franklin Mine, Nevada Co., Cal., 271. 

Frazer River, British Columbia, 38, 52. 

Fredenburr wheel, 191. 

French Corral, Nevada Co., Cal., table 
xv., 190, 226, 232, 233, 234, 256- 
258, 261, 264, tables 1., li. 

French Hill, Stanislaus Co., Cal., 72, 
242, 274, tables xlii., 1., li. 

French Reservoir, Nevada Co., Cal., 93. 

Fresno County, Cal., 65. 

Friction of embankment materials, 
102. 

Fteley and Stearns, cited, 119, 120. 

Gabriel Gully, New Zealand, 36. 

Gale, J. M., cited, table xxii. 

Gardner’s Point, Plumas Co., Cal., 
252, 267, table li. 

Garhwal River, India, 18. 

Garnett, Louis A., 281-287. 

Gates for pipes, 158, 178. 

Gates, Waste, for ditches, 133, 136. 

Gates, Waste, for flumes, 145, 154. 

Gauge for reservoirs, 92. 




INDEX. 


299 


Gavilan Mountains, Cal., 56, 60. 
Geerts, Dr., cited, 19. 

Geological formation at La Grange, 
Stanislaus Co., Cal., 68. 

Geology of California, 53-69. 

Georgia, State of, 39. 

Giant, Hydraulic and Little, 50, 182, 
183. 

Gilbert River, Canada, 37. 

Glacial drifts containing gold, 37. 
Glacial period in California, 80. 

Glen Beatson Ditch, Butte Co., Cal., 
142. 

Globe Monitor, 50, 180, 1S1. 
Gloucester, New South Wales, 33. 
Gmelin, cited, 20. 

Gobi, China, 18, 

Godfrey, J. H., cited, 20. 

Gold distribution in gravel deposits, 

70 - 75 - 

Gold distribution in sluices, 232, 252, 
259, 260-262. 

Gold, Fineness of, 289-291. 

“ Loss of, 263-267. 

“ pan, 202. 

“ product—s zz Product of gold. 

“ quartz in veins in California, 48, 
61, 65. 

Gold Bluff, Klamath Co., Cal., 48, 79. 
Gold Creek, Montana, 40. 

Gold Lake, Sierra Co., Cal., 47. 

Gold Run, Placer Co., Cal., 208, 271, 
273, table 1. 

Gomez, Admiral, 43. 

Goochland County, Virginia, 39. 
Goodyear, W. A., cited, table li. 

Goose Neck, 50, 180. 

Gopher Hill, Nevada Co., Cal., table li. 
Gorbilka River, Siberia, 24. 

Grades of ditches, 137-142, 156, table 
xiii. 

Grades of flumes, 143, table xiii. 
Grades of Sacramento and San Joaquin 
Rivers, 62. 

Grades of sluices, 218, 227-231, 259, 
266, 274, 277, 278, tables xlii.-xlix. 


Grades of tunnels, 232, 234. 

Granite in California, 54, 56, 57, 60, 

64, 65. 

Grant County, New Mexico, 40. 

Grass Flat, Plumas Co., Cal., 218. 
Grass-roots, Gold in the, 71. 

Grass Valley, Nevada Co., Cal., 191. 
Gravel, Minimum pay in, 76. 

Great Belts of California, 53. 

Great Pit River, Siberia, 23. 

Great quartz vein of California, 65. 
Great Valley of California, 53, 54,62,66. 
Great Western Mine, Victoria, Aus¬ 
tralia, 31. 

Green Flat, Plumas Co., Cal., table 1 . 
Green Mountains, New England, 39. 
Griffis, cited, 20. 

Grimm, J., cited, 70. 

Grizzly Hill, Nevada Co., Cal., 71. 
Ground sluices, 247. 

Ground-sluicing, 32, 33, 35, 37, 79, 81. 
Guasco, Chili, 27. 

Guayana, State of, South America, 28. 
Guilford County, North Carolina, 39. 
Guinea, Africa, 17. 

Gulch diggings, 51, 78. 

Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, 34. 
Gympie District, Queensland, Austra¬ 
lia, 34. 

Hagen, cited, 129. 

Hague, J. D., cited, 20, 77, 93, table 
xiii., 234, table li. 

Hakluyt’s account of the voyage of 
Sir Francis Drake, 43. 

Hala Mountains, China, 19. 

Hall, W. PI.—see State Engineer. 
Harcourt, Vernon, cited, 92. 

Harriman and Taylor Mines, Plac'd 
Co , Cal., 208. 

Hartt, C. F., cited, 26, 70. 

Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, 36. 

Hays, Sir Hector, cited, 20. 

Pledwick’s Claim, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Helps, cited, 30. 




300 


INDEX. 


Hendel, Chas., on yield of certain 
gravel deposits at La Porte, Plumas 
Co., Cal., table li. 

Hendricks Ditch, Butte Co., Cal., 138, 
141, table xiii. 

Herodotus, cited, 15, 17. 

Higham, Thos., cited, 119. 

Hill Claims, 78. 

Hill Top Mine, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
77, 270. 

History of gold-washing, 15-41. 

History of placer-mining in California, 
42-52. 

Hiuen-thsang, cited, 18. 

Holt, H. F., cited, 19. 

Hopoota, China, 19. 

Hose, Canvas and rawhide, 49. 

Hoskins, R., on discharge pipes, 50, 
182, 184. 

Huanca-huanca River, Peru, 2?. 

Humboldt, Alexander von, cited, 18,25. 

Humbug Canon, Nevada Co., Cal., 
234 . 

Humphreys and Abbot, cited, 119, 
127, 128. 

Hu-Nan, Province of, China, 19. 

Hunt, T. Sterry, cited, 88. 

Hurdy-gurdy wheels, 185-202. 

Hydraulic Chief or Knuckle-joint, 50, 
181. 

Hydraulic elevator, 36. 

Hydraulic Giant 183. 

Plydraulicking—see Washing. 

Hydraulic mining, definition, 84. 

Hydraulic mining versus drift-mining, 

84. 

Iburi, Province of, Japan, table lii. 

Idaho Mine, Nevada Co., Cal., 190. 

Idaho Territory, 39, 52, 81. 

Ignition, Simultaneous, of mines, 222. 

Impact wheels—see Hurdy-gurdy. 

Inch, Miner’s, 121-134, 268-274. 

India, 17, 94. 

Indiana Hill, Placer Co., Cal., 71, 
table li. 


Indian Archipelago, 18. 

Indications of gold in gravel, 87. 
Inverted siphons—see Siphon. 
Investigation, Preliminary, 87-89. 

Iowa Hill, Placer Co., Cal., 76. 

Irish Hill Mine, Amador Co., Cal, 270. 
Irkutsk, Siberia, 20, 24. 

Iron pipe, 49, 158-176. 

Island Lake Dam and Reservoir, Ne¬ 
vada Co., Cal., 95, 104. 

Italy, 15, 158. 

Jack’s Hill Claim, Plumas Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Jackson, L. D’A.. cited, 119. 

Jackson Creek, Amador Co., Cal., 270. 
Jack on Lake, Dam and Reservoir, 
Nevada Co., Cal., 95, 104. 

Jacobs, cited, 16, 18, 20. 

Jamestown, Tuolumne Co., Cal., 51. 
Japan, 19, table lii. 

Japan, Sea of, 25. 

Jaragua, Brazil, 70. 

Jasper rocks in California, 57, 58, 61. 
Jassin River, Italy, 16. 

Jernegan, J. L., cited, tables xlii., 1 . 
Jesuits in California, 44. 

Johnson Claim, Patricksville, Stanis¬ 
laus Co., Cal., tables xlv., 1 . 
Johnson’s Ditch, Amador Co , Cal., 
270. 

Johnston Claim, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Joints of iron pipes, table xiii., 163- 
165. 

Jordan Ditch, 270. 

Juniper Mine, 270. 

Jurassic strata in California, 54, 64, 68. 

Kaladgi District, India, 17. 

Kalami River, Siberia, 23, table lii. 
Kansas Claim, Nevada Co., Cal., 
table li. 

j Kansk, Siberia, 20, 24, table lii. 

Kashgar District, Siberia, 21. 

I Kattywar District, India, 17. 







INDEX. 


301 


Kawarau River, New Zealand, 36. 
Kelly Claim, La Grange, Stanislaus 
Co., Cal., 242, 274, table 1 . 

Kern Co., 51. 

Kern Lake, Cal., 53, 56. 

Ke n River, Cal., 64, 66. 

Kettles, Amalgam, 205. 

Kiandra District, New South Wales, 

33 - 

King’s River, Cal , 64. 

Kinsha-Kiang River, China, 19. 
Kirkwood, J. P., cited, table xxii. 
Kirwin, China, 19. 

Kizii-togoi, Turkistan, 22. 

Klamath River, Cal , 47, 66, 79, 238. 
Knight’s Ferry, Cal., 270. 

Knight Wheel, 191, 192. 

Koh River, India, 18. 

Kordofan, Egypt, 17. 

Kudo District, Japan, table lii. 
Kuen-Lun Mountains, China, 18, 19. 
Kumaun River, India, 18. 

Kutter, W. R., cited, 119, 129, 130. 
Kuznetsof, cited, 22. 

Kwei-Chow, China, 19. 

Lachlan District, New South Wales, 
32, table lii. 

La Grange, Stanislaus Co., Cal., 68, 
75, 124, 125, 132, 138, 144, table 
xiii., 168, 177, 223, 226, 229, 241, 
263, 270, 274, 276, 277, tables xlii.— 
xlvi., 1., li. 

La Ligua, Chili, 27. 

Lancha Plana, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
270. 

La Porte, Plumas Co., Cal., table li. 
Larkin, Thos. O., cited, 45. 

Las Casas, cited, 30. 

Lassen’s Peak, Lassen Co., Cal., 63, 

66 . 

Lava overflow, 33, 34, 41, 65, 66, 67, 

68 . 

Lead joints for pipes, 163. 

Le Conte, Prof. Jos., cited, 271. 

Leech River, British Columbia, 38. 


Lena, Basin of the, Siberia, 20, 24. 
Lewis and Clarke Co., Montana, 40. 
Leydenburg District, Africa, 17. 

Life of blocks, 225. 

Light Claim, La Grange, Stanislaus 
Co., Cal., 74, 274, 277, tables 1 ., li. 
Light Claim, Patricksville, Stanislaus 
Co., Cal., 72, 74, 242, 277, tablexliii. 
Light for hydraulic claims, 246. 
Limestones, Carboniferous, in Califor¬ 
nia, 66. 

Little Giant, 50, 182. 

Little York Company, Placer Co., Cal., 

114. 

Livermore Valley, Alameda Co., Cal., 
60. 

Lock, A. G., cited, 19, 20, 30, 38, table 
lii. 

Logan, W. E., cited, table lii. 
Longitudinal riffles, 227. 

Long Tom, 47, 204. 

Los Angeles, Cal., 45, 57, 59, 60. 

Loss of gold, 263-267. 

Loss of quicksilver, 244, 263-267. 
Lou-tsze-Kiang River, China, 19. 
Lower California, 42, 44. 

Lumber for flumes, 149, 150, 153-157. 
Lydia, Asia Minor, 15. 

Macy, C. F., 50. 

Madison County, Montana, 40. 
Madras, India, 17. 

Magnetic iron sands, 79, 88. 

Mahratta, Province of, India, 17. 
Malabar, India, 17. 

Malakoff Nevada Co., Cal., 73, 88, 89, 
table xv., 179, 246. 

Malineca, U. S. of Colombia, 29. 
Maneero, New South Wales, 33. 
Manzanita Mine, Sweetland, Nevada 
Co., Cal., 180, 211, 226, 234, 256, 
258, 260, 264, table 1. 

Maori bottom, New Zealand, 36. 
Maradabad District, India, 18. 

Marco Polo, quoted, 19. 

Marengo, Queensland, 34. 




302 


INDEX. 


Marine formations, California, 65, 66. 

Mariposa County, Cal., 47, 64, 65, 66. 

Marlow Reservoir, Nevada Co., Cal., 
94 - 

Marshall discovers gold in California, 
46. 

Marsinsk, Siberia, table lii. 

Maryborough District, Victoria, Aus¬ 
tralia, table lii. 

Masonry dams, 97. 

Mattison, E. E., first uses the hydraulic 
method, 48. 

Mawe, John, on Brazil, 70, 71. 

McCarty’s Claim, Nevada Co., Cal., 
table 1. 

McDoran’s Claim, Plumas Co., Cal., 
table li. 

McDowell County, North Carolina, 39. 

McGillivray, Jos., 49, 51, table li. 

Meadow Lake Dam and Reservoir, 
Nevada Co., Cal., 95, 104. 

Meagher County, Montana, 40. 

Measurement of snowfall—see Snow¬ 
fall. 

Measurement of water—see Water. 

Mechanical appliances, Various, 185— 
205. 

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, 
39 - 

Mendell, Lieut.-Col. Geo. H., cited, 
77 , Ii 3 , 114 , n8, 211, 239, 240, 
268, 276. 

Mendocino, Cape, 43, 59, 79. 

Mendoza, Viceroy, 43. 

Merced River, Cal., 64, 236, 238. 

Mercury—see Quicksilver. 

Messerer, Jos., cited, 276, table 1 . 

Metamorphism of rocks in California, 
54 , 57 - 

Methods of mining gold placers, 78-86. 

Mexico, 30. 

Miask District, Siberia, 21, 72, table 
lii. 

Middle Lake Dam and Reservoir, 
Nevada Co., Cal., 95, 104. 

Miller’s Flat, New Zealand, 36. 


Milton Mining Company, Nevada Co., 
Cal., 93, 94, 95, 101, 104, 124, 131. 
132, 133 , 134 , 138. 139 > i 46 , 153 - 156 , 
table xiii., 180, 211, 234. 

Mina Real, Cana, U. S. of Colombia, 
29 - 

Miner’s ditch, table xiii. 

Miner’s inch, 121-134, 268-274, 277, 
278, tables xlii.-xlvi. 

Minimum pay yield of gravel, 76. 

Mining methods —see Methods. 

Minusinsk, Siberia, 20, 24, table lii. 

Miocene Mining Company, Butte Co., 
Cal., 142, 150. 151. 

Miocene strata in California, 58, 59, 60, 
61. 

Mission in Lower California, First, 44. 

Mission in Upper California, First, 44. 

Mitchell River, Victoria. Australia, 32. 

Mocupia Valley, Venezuela, 28. 

Mojave Desert, San Bernardino Co., 
Cal., 60. 

Mokelumne Hill, Calaveras Co., Cal., 
270. 

Mokelumne River, Cal., 77, 115, 118, 
238, 239, 240, 268, 269, 270, 276. 

Molyneux River, New Zealand, 36. 

Monitor, Globe, 50, 1S0, 181. 

Monitor Hydraulic Machine, 183, 184. 

Montana Territory, 40, 81. 

Monte Rey, Count de, 43. 

Monterey, Town of, Monterey Co., 
Cal., 45. 

Monterey Bay, Cal., 44, 56, 57. 

Monterey District, Cal., 44, 45. 

Montgomery County, Virginia, 39. 

Montreal placers, New South Wales, 
32 - 

Mooney’s Flat, Yuba Co., Cal., 232. 

Moore, Joseph, cited, 170. 

Moore’s Flat pipe, Nevada Co., Cal., 
table xv. 

Mother-lode of California, 65. 

Mudgee District, New South Wales, 
32 . 

Munroe, H. S., cited, 20, 70, table lii. 




INDEX. 


303 


Murchison, Sir Roderick, cited, 70, 71. 
Murojnaia River, Siberia, 23, table Hi. 
Murray & Dougherty’s Ditch, Calave¬ 
ras Co., Cal., 270. 

Musa Valley, Japan, 19, table lii. 
Mysore, India, 18. 

Naginah, India, 18. 

Nagler Claim, El Dorado Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Narrow and deep ditches, 137. 

Naseby, New Zealand, 36. 

Navigable waters of California affected 
by hydraulic mining. 238. 

Nebraska Claim, Nevada Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Nelson District, New Zealand, 35. 
Nepal, India, 18. 

Nerchinsk, Siberia, 20, 35, table lii. 
Nevada County, Cal., 48, 49, 50, 63, 
7 D 72 , 73 , 93 , 124, 145 , 160, 204, 
207, 208, 210, 211, 223, 226, 234, 
258, 271, tables 1., li. 

Nevada, State of, 160, 172. 

New Almaden, Santa Clara Co., Cal., 

174. 

New Chum Hill Diggings, New South 
Wales, 33. 

Newchwang, China, 19. 

New Claim, Patricksville, Stanislaus 
Co., Cal., table 1 . 

New England, 39. 

New Hampshire, State of, 39. 

New Kelly Claim, Stanislaus Co., Cal., 
69, 265, table 1. 

New Light Claim, Patricksville, Stanis¬ 
laus Co., Cal., table 1 . 

New Mexico, 40. 

New South Wales, 30, 32, 67, 70, table 
lii. 

New Westminster, British Columbia,38. 
New Zealand, 35. 

Nijneudinsk, Siberia, 20, 24, table lii. 
Nile Valley, Egypt, 16. 

Nine-Mile Diggings, New South Wales, 

33- 


! Noiba River, Siberia, 22. 

North Bloomfield, Nevada Co., Cal., 
73, 86, 88, 89, 93, 94, 95, 103, 104, 
tables v., vi., 124, 126, 131, 132, 134, 
13S, 145, 153, tables xiii., xv., 169, 
174, 177, table xxii., 179, 185, 221, 
226, 227, figs. 67-69, 234, 244, 246, 
252, 253, 263, 264, 274, 276, 278, 
table 1. 

North Carolina, State of, 39. 

Notch, Triangular, Discharge of water 
through, 120, 122. 

Notre Dame Mountains, Canada, 37. 
Nova Scotia, 37. 

Nozzles, 19, 158-184, 189, 190. 

Nubia, 16. 

Nuggety Gully, Victoria, Australia, 

32 . 

Nunez, Alvarez, Expedition to Gulf of 
California, 42. 

Ogilvy’s “America,” 45. 

Ogne Valley, Siberia, table lii. 

Okhotsk Sea, 25. 

Oldest alluvial gold deposits known, 

33, 67. 

Olekma River, Siberia, 24. 

Olekminsk, Siberia, 20, 24, table lii. 
Olizal, Monterey District, 45. 
Ollonokon River, Siberia, 24. 

Omega and Blue Tent Reservoirs, Ne¬ 
vada Co., Cal., 95. 

Open channels, Flow of water in, 119, 
127. 

Opening a claim, 217. 

Oreo River, Italy, 16. 

Oregon, State of, 45, 66 , 79 * 

Oregon Gulch Ditch, Trinity Co., Cal., 
142. 

Orenburg District, Siberia, table lii. 
Orifices, Discharge of water through, 
119-123. 

Orinoco River, Venezuela, 29. 
Osborne’s Flat, Victoria, Australia, 73. 
Oshima Province, Japan, table lii. 
Otago District, New Zealand, 35. 





304 


INDEX. 


Pactolus Mine, Timbuctoo, Yuba Co., 
Cal., 232, table li. 

Pactolus River, 15. 

Palmas, Cape, Liberia, Africa, 17. 

Palo Escrito Hills, Cal., 56. 

rampluna Province, U. S. of Colom¬ 
bia, 29. 

Pan, The gold or miner’s, 202. 

Paragon Mine, Placer Co., Cal., 208, 
227, table li. 

Parinacochas Province, Peru, 28. 

Park Canal and Mining Company’s 
Ditch, table xiii. 

Park Canal and Mining Company’s 
Inch, 124. 

Patricksville, Stanislaus Co., Cal., 72, 
73, 74, 132, 228, 241, 270, tables 
xliii.-xlvi., 1. 

Pay gravel, Minimum yield, 76. 

Payson, Lieut. A. W., cited, 270. 

Paz Soldan, cited, 28. 

Peace River, British Columbia, 38. 

Pearce City, Idaho, 39. 

Peel District, new South Wales, 32 
table lii. 

Pelton wheel, 191-193, 198-202. 

Penchenga River, Siberia, 24. 

Percolation, 92. 

Perkins, H. C., cited, 50, 183, tables 
1., li. 

Perm District, Siberia, table lii. 

Peru, 27. 

Peschanka Mine, Ural Mountains, 21. 

Petorca, Chili, 27. 

Petroleum in California, 59. 

Pettee, W. H., cited, 75, tables 1 ., li. 

Philippine Islands, 18. 

Philippsburg, on the Rhine, 16. 

Phrygia, 15. 

Piede Cuesta Mine, U. S. of Colom¬ 
bia. 29. 

Piety Hill Mine, Shasta Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Piling for dams, 96. 

Pillarcitos Dam and Reservoir, San 
Mateo Co., Cal., 99, 104. 


Pine Grove Reservoir, 95. 

Pioneer Mine, Plumas Co., Cal., 218. 

Pioneer Tunnel, Sierra Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Pipe, 49, 158-184, tables xlii.-xlvi. 

Piquituirin River, Peru, 28. 

Pittsburg Mine, Sucker Flat, Yuba Co., 
Cal., 232, table li. 

Placer County, Cal., 51, 63, 71, 75, 76, 
83, 84, 227, table 1. 

Placerville, Placer Co., Cal., 33. 

Platinum in beach sands, 79. 

Pliny, cited, 16, 82. 

Pliocene gravels in California, 54, 60, 

67 - 

Pliocene gravels in South Australia, 
31 - 

Pliocene gravels in Victoria, Australia, 

3 L 32 . 

Plumas County, Cal , 63, 65, 66, 83, 
218, tables 1., li. 

Po River, Italy, 16. 

Podkamenny Tungusska River, Siberia, 
22. 

Polar Star Mine, Placer Co., Cal., 71, 
75, 179, 239, 271, table li. 

Pond Mine, Placer Co., Cal , table li. 

Post-pliocene in California, 68. 

Post-tertiary in California, 64. 

Powder, Blasting, 210, 212, 233, 234, 
278. 

Preliminary work in mining, 87-89. 

Prescott, W. H., cited, 30. 

Preservation of iron pipes, 167. 

Pressure on pipes, table xv., 174, tables 
xlii.-xlvi. 

Pressure box, 176, 177. 

Product of gold: 

Africa, 17. 

Amur basin, Siberia, 25. 

Bolivia, 27. 

Brazil, 26. 

British Columbia, 38. 

California, 42, 28S. 

Caratal Mines, Venezuela, 38. 

Chili, 27. 




INDEX. 


305 


Product of gold— continued: 

Idaho, 39. 

Japan, 20. 

Montana, 40. 

New Granada, 30. 

New South Wales, 32. 

Peru, 27, 28. 

Russia, 21. 

Savaglikon Mines, Siberia, 23. 
Verkneudinsk District, Siberia, 24. 
Victoria, Australia, 30. 

Prospect drifts, 83, 87, 88. 

“ shafts, 87, 88, S9. 

“ tunnels, 83. 

Prospecting, Cost at North Bloomfield, 

88 , 

Puddle, 96, 100. 

Puddling box, 205. 

Pumpelly, R., cited, 18, 19, table lii. 
Punjab, India, 18. 

Puno, Department of, Peru, 28. 

Punta de los Reyes, Cal., 44. 

Purus River, Peru, 28. 

Pyrenees Mountains, 16. 

Quaker Hill, Placer Co., Cal., 75, 
table li. 

Quartz veins, Gold, in California, 4S, 
61, 65. 

Quebec, Province of, Canada, 37, 
table lii. 

Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand, 

37 - 

Queensland, Australia, 30, 34. 
Queenstown, New Zealand, 36. 
Quicksilver, Amount used in charging 
sluices, 244, 266. 

Quicksilver, Loss of, 244, 266, 267. 

“ ores in California, 58. 

“ Treatment of, 249. 

Railroad Flat, Calaveras Co., Cal., 270. 
Rainfall, 62, 91, 93, 105, tables v.,vi., 
240. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 29. 

Randall, P. M., cited, 273. 


Randolph, E., cited, 44. 

Rankine, W. J. M., cited, 97, 93, 
table xxii. 

Ras-Elba, Egypt, 16. 

Rathget, J., on the yield of the gravel 
deposits in Calaveras Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Ratio of evaporation to rainfall, 92. 
Rawhide hose, 49. 

Raymond, R. W., cited, 40, 142, tables 
xiii., li. 

Recent alluvial deposits in California, 

54 - 

Records of gold-washing, 15-43. 

Red Bluff, Tehama Co., Cal., 53. 

Red gravel, 87. 

Red Sea, 16. 

Reid, cited, 32. 

Reid's Creek, Victoria, Australia, 73. 
Reservoir , 90-118. 

Retorting amalgam, 249. 

Riberao River, Braz.l, 25. 

Riffles, 224-227, 234, 257, 259, 271,278. 
Rifle for discharge pipe, 50, 182. 

Rio das Mortes, Brazil, 25. 

Rio Grande, U. S. of America, 40. 
River channels, Ancient—see also Pli¬ 
ocene gravels. 

River-mining, 48, 51, 79, 80. 

Rivets for hydraulic pipe, 162, 169-171. 
Riviere du Loup, Canada, table lii. 
Rock riffles, 224, 259, 271. 

Rocker, 203. 

Rose’s Bar Tunnel, Timbuctoo, Yuba 
Co., Cal , 232. 

Round Lake Dam and Reservoir, Ne¬ 
vada Co., Cal., 95, 104. 

Rowan County, North Carolina, 39. 
Rowdy Flat, Victoria, Australia, 73. 
Rudyard—see English (dam and reser¬ 
voir). 

Rushworth Mines, Victoria, Australia, 
32 . 

Russia, 15, 20, table lii. 

Rust of iron pipes, 167. 

Rutherford County, North Carolina, 39. 





3 °6 


INDEX. 


Sacramento Ditch, 270. 

Sacramento River and Valley, Cal., 
45, 62. 113, 238, 239, 240. 

Sahara, Desert of, 17. 

Sailor’s Union, Placer Co., Cal., table li. 

Salinas River, Cal., 56. 

Salmon River, Idaho, 39. 

Salt Spring Valley Reservation Ditch, 
270. 

San Andreas Reservoir and Dam, San 
Mateo Co., Cal., 99, 104. 

San Antonio Mission, Monterey Co., 
Cal., 61. 

San Antonio, Mount, Brazil, 71. 

San Antonio, Rio de, U. S. of Colom¬ 
bia, 29. 

San Bartolomo, Rio de, U. S. of Co¬ 
lombia, 29. 

San Benito River, Cal., 56. 

San Bernardino Mountains, San Ber¬ 
nardino Co., Cal., 64, 65. 

San Diego County, Cal., 44, 45, 65, 

68 . 

San Francisco, San Francisco Co., Cal., 

55 , 56. 

San Francisco Canon, Los Angeles 
Co., Cal., 61. 

San Francisquito Placers, Los Angeles 
Co., Cal., 45. 

San Gabriel, Los Angeles Co., Cal., 

55 , 59 , 61. 

San Gavan, Peru, 27. 

San Isidro (see also San Diego), 45. 

San Jago, Falls of, U. S. of Colombia, 
29. 

San Joao, Brazil, 71. 

San Joaquin Valley and River, Cal., 
62, 238, 269. 

San Jose, Brazil, 71. 

San Juan, Nevada Co., Cal., 138, 140, 
tables xiii., xv., 234. 

San Juan del Oro, Peru, 28. 

San Luis Rey, San Diego Co., Cal., 55. 

San Mateo County, Cal., 99. 

San Pablo Bay, Cal., 238. 

Sand-box, 177. 


Sandhurst District, Victoria, Australia, 
32 . 

Sandia, Province of, Peru, 28. 

Sands, 72. 

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New 
Mexico, 41. 

Santa Ana Mountains, Los Angeles 
Co , Cal., 55, 60, 61. 

Santa Barbara County, Cal., 59, 61, 
68, 168. 

Santa Clara County, Cal., 174. 

Santa Clara River, Cal., 60. 

Santa Cruz de Cana, U. S. of Colom¬ 
bia, 29 

Santa Cruz Mountains, Cal., 56, 59, 60. 

Santa Cruz River. Venezuela, 28. 

Santa Fe, New Mexico, 40. 

Santa Lucia Range, Cal., 56, 59, 61. 

Santa Monica Range, Cal., 57. 

Santiago, Rio de, U. S. of Colombia, 
29. 

Savaglikon, Valley of, Siberia, 23, 
table lii. 

Saw Mill Flat Dam, Nevada Co., Cal., 
104. 

Schmidtmeyer, cited, 26, 29. 

Scotchman’s Tunnel Claim, New South 
Wales, 33. 

Scott’s Valley placers, Trinity Co., 
Cal., 47. 

Sebastopol, Nevada Co., Cal., table 1 . 

Secchi, S.J., Father, cited, 158. 

Secret Diggings, Plumas Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Sedimentary volcanic layers, 66. 

Selwin, M. A., cited, 70. 

Semipalitinsk, Siberia, table lii. 

Senegal River, Senegambia, Africa, 17. 

Serio River, Italy, 16. 

Serpentine rocks in California, 57, 58. 

Serra, Father Junipero, cited, 44. 

Sevilla, Rio de, U. S. of Colombia, 29. 

Shaargans Valley, Siberia, table lii. 

Shaft timbering, 216. 

Shafts, Prospect, 87, 88, 89. 

Shafts for tunnels, 215. 



INDEX. 


307 


Shallow placers, 78. 

Shantung, Province of, China, 19. 

Shasta County, Cal. ,55, 62, 66, table li 

Shasta, Mount, California, 63, 66. 

Shelvocke, Captain Royal Navy, “ Voy¬ 
age around the World by Way of the 
South Sea,” 45. 

Shensi, Province of, China, 19. 

Shiribeshi, Province of, Japan, table 
lii. 

Shot Gun Lake Reservoir and Dam, 
Nevada Co., Cal., 95, 104. 

Shotover River, New Zealand, 36. 

Shrinkage of embankments, 100. 

Siberia, 15, table lii. 

Sicard Claim, Stanislaus Co., Cal., 72, 
tables xlvi., 1. 

Sierra County, Cal., 63, 83, 84, table li. 

Sierra Nevada, Belt of the, 53, 54, 63, 
64. 

Silliman, Professor, cited, 40. 

Silurian deposits at Beechworth, 32. 

Silurian deposits of Canada, 37. 

Silver mines in California, 61. 

Sipage through dams, 94, 115. 

Siphons, 49, 158. 

Sites for storage reservoirs, 90. 

Skidmore, W. S., cited, 76. 

Slate formations in California, 58, 59, 
64, 67. 

Slope, Average of the Sierra Nevada, 
63, 64. 

Slopes of banks, 102, 138. 

Sluice, affects the duty of the inch, 268. 

Sluice, Definition of, 21S. 

Sluice diggings, 78. 

Sluices, Action of water in, 272. 

Sluices, Charging the, 244, 266. 

Sluices, Construction and location of, 
215, 2 35. 259. 

Sluices, Distribution of gold in, 252- 
261. 

Sluices, Grades of, 218. 227-231, 259, 
266, 274, 277-279, tables xlii.-xlvi. 

Sluices, Ground, 247. 

Sluicing, Ground, 79, 81. 


Smartsville, Yuba Co., Cal., 114, 124, 
140, table xv., 206, 226, 232, 246, 
tables 1 , li. 

Smith, H., Jr., cited, 95, 112, 125, 126, 
174, 188, 273, tables 1., li. 

Smythe, R. Brough, cited, 17, 70, 253, 

Snake River, Idaho, 39, 40. 

Snow Mountain Ditch, Nevada Co., 
Cal., table xiii. 

Snowfall, 91, 93, 105, tables v., vi. 

Soetbeer, Dr., cited, 17, 26, 27, 28, 
30 . 

Sofala, 17. 

Solfataric action in California, 54, 61. 

Sources of water supply, 90. 

South Australia, 30-34. 

South Carolina, State of, 39. 

South Island, New Zealand, 35. 

South Yuba Canal Company, Nevada 
Co., Cal.. 95, 101, 104, 124, 138, 140, 
tables xiii., li. 

Southern Cross Mine, Placer Co., Cal., 
179, 239, 271. 

Southern District, New South Wales, 
32, table lii. 

Spain, Gold-washing in, 16, 82. 

Spanish Claim, El Dorado Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Spearfish River, Dakota Ter., 146. 

Spike’s Gully, South Australia, 34. 

Spring Valley and Cherokee Mining 
Company, Butte Co., Cal., 49, 103, 
138, 141, table xiii., 162, table xv., 
174, 175- 

Spring Valley Water Company, San 
Francisco, 104, 160, table xv., 162, 
170, 171. 

St. Helena, Mount, Cal., 61. 

St. Lucas, Cape, Lower California, 44, 

Stanislaus County, Cal., 68, 72, 74, 
124, 125, 132, 138, table xiii., 168, 
177, 226, 229, 241, 2f3, 265, 270, 
274, 276, tables xliii., xliv., 1., li. 

Stapleton River, South Australia, 35. 

State Engineer of California, cited, 77, 
238, 239, 240, 268, 271, 276. 





3°S 


INDEX. 


Stearns, E. P., on measurement of 
water, 119, 120. 

Sterling Reservoir, Nevada Co., Cal., 
95, 104. 

Stickeen River, British Columbia, 38. 

Stockton Ridge, 270. 

Storage of tailings, 112, 115. 

Storage reservoirs, 90. 

Stove-pipe, 49. 

Strabo, cited, 15, 16. 

Strain, Tensile—see Tensile. 

Strains on pipes—see Pressure. 

Strassburg on the Rhine, 16. 

Strelok Bay, Siberia, 25. 

Striedinger, J. H., cited, 213. 

Stutchburg on the distribution of gold¬ 
en gravel, 70. 

Suakin, Egypt, 16. 

Sucker Flat, Yuba Co., Cal., 207, 232, 
table li. 

Suisun Bay, Cal., 61, 238. 

Sulphur in California, 61. 

Sunny South Mine, Placer Co., Cal., 
84, 85. 

Supply of water, Sources of, 90. 

Supply pipe, 158, 178. 

Surface-mining, 78, 79. 

Surtur River, India, 17. 

Surveying a ditch line, 136, 152, 

153- 

Suspension of material in water, 240, 
271. 

Sutter Creek, Amador Co., Cal., 270. 

Sutter’s Fort, Cal., 46. 

Sweetland, Nevada Co , Cal., 1S0, 211, 
213, 226, 234, 256, 258, 260, 264, 
table 1. 

Sweetland Creek Tunnel, Nevada Co., 
Cal , 234. 

Sze-Chuen, Province of, China, 19. 

Table 1. Production of gold in Russia, 
21. 

Table 2. Reservoirs in California, 95. 

Table 3. Angles of repose and friction 
of embankment materials, 102. 


Table 4. Principal dams in California, 
104. 

Table 5. Rainfall at North Bloomfield 
and Bowman Dam, follows p. 11S. 

Table 6. Rainfall and snowfall at Bow¬ 
man Reservoir, follows p. 118. 

Table 7. Discharge of water through 
triangular notches, 122. 

Table 8. Coefficients of discharge of 
water through rectangular orifices, 
123. 

Tables 9, 10, 11. Lumber for flumes, 
Dimensions of, 149, 150. 

Table 12. Details of cost of Milton 
Ditch and Flume, 154, 155. 

Table 13. Dimensions, capacity in 
inches, grade, and costs of ditches 
in California, follows p. 156. 

Table 14. Thickness and weight of 
iron for pipes, 159. 

Table 15. Thickness of iron, maximum 
tensile strain on wrought-iron pipes, 
follows p. 160. 

Table 16. Area and weight of wrought- 
iron pipes, 161. 

Table 17. Sizes of rivets, 162. 

Table 18. Details of riveting a 22-inch 
wrought-iron pipe, 162. 

Table 19. Costs of constructing iron 
pipes, 169. 

Table 20. Details of construction of 
the Spring Valley Water Company’s 
wrought-iron pipe, 171. 

Table 21. Showing thickness of iron, 
pressure, and maximum tensile strain 
on the Spring Valley and Cherokee 
Mining Company’s pipe, 174. 

Table 22. Flow of water through cir¬ 
cular pipes, Coefficients of, follows 

p. 174. 

Table 23. Experiments with Hurdy- 
Gurdy wheels at the North Bloom¬ 
field Mine, 189. 

Table 24. Bank-blasting at the Manza- 
nita Mine, Sweetland, Nevada Co., 
Cal., 212. 






INDEX. 


309 


Table 25. Lengths and grades of tun¬ 
nels in Smartsville District, Yuba 
Co., Cal., 232. 

Table 26. Lengths, grades, and costs 
of tunnels in Nevada Co., Cal., 234. 
Table 27. Cost of the French Corral 
tunnel and sluices, 233. 

Table 28. Cost of the Manzanita Mine 
tunnel and sluices, 234. 

Table 29. Hall’s estimate of hydraulic 
debris in California rivers, 239. 

Table 30. Mendell’s estimate of hy¬ 
draulic debris in California rivers, 
239 - 

Table 31. French Corral Mine Under¬ 
currents, 257. 

Table 31 A. Yield of gold from the un¬ 
dercurrents, etc., at French Corral, 
Nevada Co., Cal., 258. 

Table 32. Yield from the undercur¬ 
rents, etc., at Manzanita Mine, Ne¬ 
vada Co., Cal., 258. 

Table 33. Distribution of gold in the 
sluices of the Manzanita Mine, 260. 
Table 34. Distribution of gold in the 
sluices of the French Corral Mine, 
261. 

Table 35. Distribution of gold in the 
sluices of the North Bloomfield 
Mine, 262. 

Table 36. Amount of water used, yield 
of bullion, and loss of quicksilver at 
the North Bloomfield Mine, 264. 
Table 37. Details of a run at the New 
Kelly and Delaney Claims, showing 
amount of water used, bullion yield, 
and loss of quicksilver, 266. 

Table 38. Estimates of the amount of 
water used and the duty of the inch, 
269. 

Table 39. Estimates of the amount of 
water used and the duty of the inch 
by Lieutenant Payson, 270. 

Table 40. Estimates of the amount of 
water used and the duty of the inch ' 
by the State Engineer, 271. 


Table 41. The amounts of water used 
and the duty of the miner’s inch at 
North Bloomfield and La Grange 
mines, 274. 

Table 42. Amount of water used, 
quantity of gravel washed, grade, 
height of banks, details of cost, and 
bullion yield at the French Hill 
Claim, Stanislaus Co., Cal., follows 
p. 279. 

Table 43. Amount of water used, 
gravel washed, grade, height of 
banks, yield of bullion, and costs of 
working the Light Claim, Patricks- 
ville, Stanislaus Co., Cal., follows p. 
279 - 

Table 44. Details of working the Ches- 
nau Claim, Patricksville, Stanislaus 
Co , Cal., follows p. 279. 

Table 45. Details of working the John¬ 
son Claim, Stanislaus Co., Cal., fol¬ 
lows p. 279. 

Table 46. Details of working the Si- 
card Claim, Patricksville, Stanislaus 
Co., Cal., follows p. 279. 

Table 47. Resume of the work done by 
the La Grange Company from June 
1, 1874, to September 30, 1876, 277. 
Table 48. Amount of water used, 
gravel washed, height of banks, 
yield of bullion, and cost of work¬ 
ing No. 8 Claim, North Bloomfield, 
Nevada Co., Cal., 278. 

Table 49. Classification of mines and 
mining expenses in California, 279. 
Table 50. Amount of gravel moved 
and yield of important hydraulic 
claims in California, follows p. 279. 
Table 51. Amount of gravel moved 
and yield of various placer claims in 
California, follows p. 279. 

Table 52. Amount of gravel washed 
and corresponding yield of foreign 
gold-fields, follows p. 279. 

Table Mountain, Tuolumne Co., Cal., 
51, 66. 






INDEX. 


310 

Table Mountain Creek, Cal., 239, 
269. 

Table-Top Mountain, New South 
Wales, 33. 

Tagus River, Portugal, 16. 

Tahoe, Lake, Cal., 64. 

Tail sluices—see Sluices. 

Tailings, 112-115, 236-240. 

Tailings deposited in streams, 114, 
236, 238-240. 

Tailings, Storage of, 112, 115. 

Talca, Chili, 27. 

Tallawang District, New South Wales, 
33, 67. 

Tambaroora District, New South 
Wales, 32. 

Tamping powder drifts, 213. 

Tapu District, New Zealand, 36. 

Tarring iron pipes, table xv., 167, 
168. 

Taylor Wheel, The, 191, 193. 

Tejon, Fort, Kern Co., Cal., 53, 55, 
59, 61, 62, 63. 

Temescal Range, 55, 60. 

Temora placers, New South Wales, 
32 . 

Temperance Hill, Yuba Co., Cal., 
table li. 

Temple, E., on distribution of gold, 70. 

Tensile strain on pipes, table xv., 172, 
174. 

Tentek River, Western Turkistan, 22. 

Tertiary alluvial deposits in New 
South Wales, 34. 

Tertiary strata of California, 54, 57, 
58, 59, 60, 64, 66. 

Tesorero, Venezuela, 29. 

Texas Creek ditch and flume, 131. 

Texas Creek pipe, Nevada Co., Cal., 
160, table xv. 

Teya River, Siberia, 22. 

Thames Gold Fields, The, New Zea¬ 
land, 36. 

Thibet, 18. 

Thickness of iron for pipes, 159, table 
xv., 161, 162, 168, 169, 171, 172. 


Thompson, Prof.. Experiments on the 
discharge of water through triangular 
notches, 120. 

Tiltil, Chili, 27. 

Timber-crib dams, q6, 106, no. 

Timbering shafts, 216. 

Timbuctoo, Yuba Co., Cal., 49, 232. 

Tinkers Diggings, New Zealand, 36. 

Tin oxide, 88. 

Tin ore in California, 60. 

Tipuani River, Bolivia, 27. 

Tom, The, 47, 204. 

Tools for pipe-making, 169. 

Topography of California, 53, 69. 

Torrens River, South Australia, 34. 

Toshibitsu, Province of, Japan, table 
lii. 

Transactions of the American Institute 
of Mining Engineers, 20, 70, table 
lii. 

Trans-Baikalia, Siberia, 20, 24, table 
lii. 

Transporting capacity of a current, 
271. 

Transporting power of a current, 271. 

Transvaal, South Africa, 17. 

Trautwine, John C., cited, 99, 100, 
101. 

Travancore, State of, India, 18. 

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgc, 47. 

Tres Pinos, San Benito Co., Cal., 60. 

Triangular notch, Discharge through, 
120, 122. 

Triassic strata in California, 54, 58, 
64. 

Trinity County placers, Discovery of, 

47 - 

Trinity River, Cal., 49, 66, 238. 

Tuapeka, New Zealand, 36. 

Tujimo River, Siberia, 24. 

Tulare County, Cal., 65. 

Tulare Lake, Cal , 58. 

Tunnels and sluices, 215-235. 

Tunnels, Deep, first in California, 51. 

Tunnels for drift-mines, S3. 

I Tunnels, Prospect, 83. 





INDEX. 


Tuolumne County, Cal., 51, 64, 66, 
223. 

Tuolumne River, Cal., 64, 68, 72, 77, 
238, 241, 270. 

Tuolumne Water Company, 103, 104, 
table xiii. 

Turkistan, 20, 22. 

Turn-in sluice, 227, 228, 229. 

Turn-out sluice, 227, 229-231. 

Turon District. New South Wales, 32. 

Twist’s Fall, Victoria, Australia, 73. 

Uderey, Valley of the, Siberia, 23, 
table lii. 

Umpqua River, Oregon, 79. 

Undercurrents, 231, 232, 247, 257, 
259, 261. 

Undercurrents, Distribution of gold in, 
252-261. 

Undulations, Rich pay in, 72. 

Union Ditch, Yuba Co., Cal., 138, 
140, table xiii. 

Union Ditch, Calaveras Co., Cal, 
270. 

Union Gravel Mine, Yuba Co., Cal., 
table li. 

United States of America, 38. 

Untuguna River, Siberia, 24. 

Ural Gold Fields, 20, 21, 88, table lii. 

Uralla District, New South Wales, 32, 
table lii. 

Vaca, Cabeza de, Expedition to Gulf 
of California, 42. 

Valparaiso, Chili, 27. 

Valves for iron pipes, 166, 167. 

Vancouver Island, British Columbia, 

33 . 

Veins, Gold quartz, in California, 48, 
61, 65. 

Venegas, Father, Discovery of Cali¬ 
fornia, 42, 61. 

Venezuela, 28. 

Ventura County, Cal., 59, 61. 

Verkneudinsk, Siberia, 20, 24. 

Vermont, State of, 39. 


3 ir 

Victoria, Australia, 30, 70, 71, 205, 
253, table lii. 

Victoria, British Columbia, 38. 

Vigno Hill, Stanislaus Co., Cal., 274. 
Virginia City and Gold Hill Water 
Company, Nevada, 160, table xv., 
163, 172, 173. 

Virginia, State of, 39. 

Visalia, Tulare Co., Cal., 53. 
Viscayno, Sebastian, 43. 

Vitim River, Siberia, 24. 

Volcanic activity in California, 54, 6l e 
Volcanic cones in California, 66. 
Volcanic layers, Sedimentary, 65, 66. 
Volcano Mine, 270. 

Wairau Valley, New Zealand, 37. 
Wakamarina District, New Zealand, 37. 
Waldron Reservoir, Nevada Co., Cal., 
94* 

Wallace, H. W., on yield of gravel at 
Bald Mt., Sierra Co., Cal., table li. 
Walls, Puddle, 96, 100. 

Walsh, Travels in Brazil, 25, 71. 
Waranga Gold Fields, Victoria, Aus¬ 
tralia, 32. 

Washing, First, 27. 

Washing, Method of, 244-251. 
Washington Territory, 39. 

Washoe Valley, Nevada, 172. 
Waste-gates—ditches, 133, 134, 136, 
276. 

Waste-gates—flumes, 128, 145, 154. 
Water, Absorption of, 92, 132, 135, 
143 . 

Coefficients of discharge 
through circular pipes, table 
xxii. 

Coefficients of discharge 
through ditches, 131-133. 

“ Coefficients of discharge 
through rectangular orifices, 
123. 

“ Discharge over weirs, 119, 120. 
Discharge through nozzles, 
1S5. 





312 


INDEX. 


Water, Discharge through orifices, 
119. 

“ Discharge through pipes, table 
xv., 174. 

Discharge through triangular 
notches, 120, 122. 

“ Duty of the miner’s inch, 268, 

274, 277, 278, tables xlii.— 
xlvi. 

“ Erosion of material in, 236, 

272. 

Evaporation of, 92, 135, 143. 
“ Flow in ditches, 130-134. 

Flow in narrow and deep 
ditches, 137. 

“ Flow in open channels, 127. 

Loss of, table vi., 132, 133, 
134 . 143 . 

“ Loss in distribution, 133. 

“ Pressure on pipes, table xv., 

174, tables xlii.-xlvi. 

“ Measurement of, 119-134. 

“ Supply, Sources of, 91. 

“ Suspension of material in, 

240. 

“ Transporting capacity of, 271. 

“ Transporting power of, 271. 

“ Wheel—see Hurdy-Gurdy. 

Wear of stones in running water, 236, 
272. 

Weaver Lake Reservoir and Dam, 
Nevada Co., Cal., 93, 95, 104. 

Wei River, China, 19. 

Weight of wrought-iron plate, 159. 
Weight of wrought iron in pipes, 161. 
Weirs, 119, 120. 

Weisbach, Julius, cited, 119. 
Werchneudinsk, Siberia, table lii. 
Werong, Mount, New South Wales, 
33 - 

Westland District, New Zealand, 35, 

36. 

Wheel—see Hurdy-Gurdy. 

White River, Cal., 66. 

Whitesides Claim, El Dorado Co., 
Cal., table li. 


| Whitney, J D., cited, 53, 70, 276. 

| Whitney, Mount, Cal., 64. 

Wilkes’ Exploring Expedition, 45. 

Wilkinson, C. S., on auriferous coal 
measures, 67. 

Wing dams, 48. 

Wood, Fossil, in California, 67. 

Wooden dams (see also Timber cribs), 
96. 

Woodward Claim, Nevada Co., Cal., 
263. 

Woolsey Flat, Nevada Co., Cal., 234. 

Woolshed, Victoria, Australia, 73. 

Wright, P., Distribution of gold in 
tail sluices, 253. 

Wrought-iron pipes —see’ Pipes and 
nozzles. 

Wynaad Gold Fields, India, 17. 

Wyoming and Dakota Water Com¬ 
pany, Dakota, 146, 147. 

Yackandanah, Victoria, Australia, 73. 

Yenisei River, Siberia, 22. 

Yeniseisk, Northern Siberia, 20, 22, 
table lii. 

Yeniseisk, Southern Siberia, 20, 23, 
table lii. 

Yenashimo Valley, Siberia, 23, table 
lii. 

YessO, Japan, 20. 

Yield—see Product of gold. 

Yield from the auriferous deposits of 
California, 42, 275, 277, 278, tables 
xlii.-xlvi., 1., li., 28S. 

Yield of auriferous gravel—see Re¬ 
cords of gold-washing. 

“ of the different gravel strata, 72, 
“ 74 , 75 - 

“ of the different gravel strata at 
North Bloomfield, 73, 74. 

“ of the different gravel strata at 
Patricksville, 74. 

“ of drifting and hydraulicking 
at North Bloomfield, 84, 278. 
“ of the Russian, Australian, and 
Japan gold fields, 20, table lii. 




INDEX. 


313 


Yield of gravel at La Grange, 74, 277, 
tables xlii.-xlvi. 

“ of minimum pay of gravel, 76. 

“ of top dirt at La Grange, 74. 

“ of top dirt at the Polar Star 
Mine, 75. 

“ of undercurrents—see Distribu¬ 
tion of gold in undercurrents . 
“ of sluices—see Distribution of 
gold in sluices. 


Yuba Co., Cal., 95, 124, 138, 140, 
table xiii., 206, 207, 226, 232, 273, 
tables 1., li. 

Yuba River, Cal., 77, 93, 95, 103, 114, 
115, 235, 239, 245, 268. 

Zapaterito River, U. S. of Colombia, 29. 
Zehya River, Siberia, 25. 

Zipangu, Japan, 19. 

Zlataust, Russia, 22. 
































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